WEBVTT - Here's Why You Need to Understand Quantum Computing

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. I'm Stephen Carol and

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<v Speaker 1>this is Here's Why, where we take one news story

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<v Speaker 1>and explain it in just a few minutes with our

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<v Speaker 1>experts here at Bloomberg. Move over, artificial intelligence. A new

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<v Speaker 1>technological game changer is coming. Quantum computing, its supporters say,

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<v Speaker 1>will deliver huge advancements and fields from drug development to

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<v Speaker 1>financial modeling. And that's why governments as well as some

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<v Speaker 1>of the world's biggest tech companies and venture capitalists are

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<v Speaker 1>pouring billions of dollars into them.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a totally different avenue.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not just supercomputers but better or AI but more powerful.

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<v Speaker 2>It's entirely different way of computing.

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<v Speaker 1>Quantum computing.

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<v Speaker 2>He's, without a dad, one of the top technologies that

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<v Speaker 2>the United States needs to lead.

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<v Speaker 3>If you suddenly lose that secrecy and that security, then

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<v Speaker 3>it causes all sorts of vulnerabilities on a personal level,

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<v Speaker 3>on a national level, from a security perspective, from a

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<v Speaker 3>commercial perspective, and so you know, this is a big,

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<v Speaker 3>big deal.

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<v Speaker 1>So here's why you need to understand quantum computing. Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>reporter Isabell Award is with me for more Isabella. First

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<v Speaker 1>of all, what is a quantum computer and how different

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<v Speaker 1>is it to the computers that we know today.

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<v Speaker 4>They are an emerging type of supercomputer which can solve

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<v Speaker 4>problems today's machines can't, and this is because they process

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<v Speaker 4>information in an entirely different way, exploiting the quirks of

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<v Speaker 4>quantum mechanics, hence the name, which is the field of

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<v Speaker 4>physics which governs microscopic materials. I'll give you an example

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<v Speaker 4>of this difference in approach. Sarah was a traveling salesperson

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<v Speaker 4>and I wanted to sell my war his intensities, and

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<v Speaker 4>I wanted to use a computer to figure out the

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<v Speaker 4>most efficient order to visit these cities. In a normal

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<v Speaker 4>computer would one by one and then compare the three

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<v Speaker 4>hundred and sixty thousand odd possibilities, whereas a quantum computer

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<v Speaker 4>could simultaneously take all these routes into account and then

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<v Speaker 4>could return the likely best answer almost instantly.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so what can they be used for outside of

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<v Speaker 1>travel planning?

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<v Speaker 4>The age old optimization problem I just gave you does

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<v Speaker 4>have some useful logistical and transportation efficiency applications, but they

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<v Speaker 4>can also be used to simulate atomic behavior, which can

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<v Speaker 4>accelerate drug discovery or material development. They can also model

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<v Speaker 4>more complex systems with lots of dynamic interacting parts, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>be at the climate or be at the economy, and

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<v Speaker 4>across fields. They can enhance an expedite machine learning for

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<v Speaker 4>artificial intelligence.

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<v Speaker 1>So who are the big players involved in developing quantum

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<v Speaker 1>computers then, and crucially use putting money into it.

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<v Speaker 4>IBM have really led the charge here, but Aws, Microsoft, Alphabetics,

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<v Speaker 4>Google are all developing their own types of quantum chips

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<v Speaker 4>as well.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's not just big tech.

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<v Speaker 4>Startups including Raghetti and Honeywell's Continuum are also competitive as well.

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<v Speaker 4>As investors governments can vinced by the economic advantage that

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<v Speaker 4>these machines, posts have poured billions into building them, none

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<v Speaker 4>so much as China, who've invested fifteen billion US dollars

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<v Speaker 4>they say so far, which is more than triple than

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<v Speaker 4>any other country has.

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<v Speaker 1>So how far away are we from getting quantum computers

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<v Speaker 1>into widespread use? They exist in some form already.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, IBM at aiming for twenty thirty three for widespread use,

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<v Speaker 4>but some startups say that they're going to deliver useful

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<v Speaker 4>machines by the end of this decade. The challenge here

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<v Speaker 4>is that it's estimated that to have an actually useful

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<v Speaker 4>machine a quantum commuter needs to be tens of thousands

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<v Speaker 4>times larger than the current machines, and normally, because of

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<v Speaker 4>the very delicate nature of their microscopic building blocks, the

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<v Speaker 4>more you scale up, the more likely something is to

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<v Speaker 4>go wrong.

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<v Speaker 2>So that is really where Google actually broke ground.

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<v Speaker 4>In December, you might have had their Willow chip made

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<v Speaker 4>quite big news, not so much because of the size

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<v Speaker 4>of their chip, but because as they scaled up the

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<v Speaker 4>rate of errors was reduced. Still, even so, they say

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<v Speaker 4>that useful machine is several years away, but that show

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<v Speaker 4>of capability and actually being able to build these big

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<v Speaker 4>machines imminently drove a rally in quantum stocks.

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<v Speaker 1>When you say big machines, that makes me think that

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty unlikely that we're going to end up with

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<v Speaker 1>quantum computers showing up in people's homes in the way

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<v Speaker 1>that we've become used to having personal computers.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you're absolutely right.

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<v Speaker 4>These are bulky, energy intensive, highly specialized machines that cost

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<v Speaker 4>tens of millions to build.

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<v Speaker 2>Quite a big house as well. Yeah, yeah, you're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to have a quantum laptop.

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<v Speaker 4>And actually even banks, for example, they won't have their

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<v Speaker 4>own quantum computers. Instead, it's more likely that researchers would

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<v Speaker 4>pay for run time on external machines.

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<v Speaker 1>So you mentioned banks there, I mean, what would a

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<v Speaker 1>world with quantum computers do for say, the banking industry.

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<v Speaker 4>Across the board, research and development is going to be

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<v Speaker 4>revolutionized as kind of previously impossible problems become solvable. And

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<v Speaker 4>actually the banking industry is going to be one of

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<v Speaker 4>the earlier industries to fill this impact.

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<v Speaker 2>Just thinking of some examples.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I mentioned simulation, Well, risk could be simulated

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<v Speaker 4>if far more detail. I mentioned optimization, Well, that could

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<v Speaker 4>apply to collateral and commercial banking, or derivative pricing, or

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<v Speaker 4>even portfolios in investment banking. And actually quantum algorithms have

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<v Speaker 4>already been developed to optimize the latter.

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<v Speaker 1>This really sounds like another massive technological revolution on the way.

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<v Speaker 1>Are there downsides or risks to this technology?

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<v Speaker 4>There are, like with any critical technology, if you know,

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<v Speaker 4>a user with malintent gets access. So the consequence of

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<v Speaker 4>their enormous compute is that in theory, hackers could use

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<v Speaker 4>quantum computers to crack current cryptography and access sensitive data,

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<v Speaker 4>and experts do see this as likely to happen within

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<v Speaker 4>the next fifteen years or so. Of course, there's a

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<v Speaker 4>huge personal data implication here. You can imagine the chaos

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<v Speaker 4>that would be unleashed by accessing someone's Internet exchanges or

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<v Speaker 4>financial transactions, and we have seen firms like Apple or

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<v Speaker 4>telecoms companies take steps to protect users, but governments are

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<v Speaker 4>actually more concerned by the commercial threat here, the idea

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<v Speaker 4>that hostile states could steal intellectual property from foreign firms

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<v Speaker 4>and copy drugs technology, et cetera without having to spend

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<v Speaker 4>the billions on R and D in the process. So globally,

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<v Speaker 4>companies are already being urged to update their encryption now

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<v Speaker 4>in preparation for when these ultra powerful computers arrive.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks to Bloomberg reporter is Abelle Award for more explanations

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<v Speaker 1>like this one from our team of twenty nine hundred

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<v Speaker 1>journalists and analysts around the world. Search for Quick Take

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<v Speaker 1>on the Bloomberg website or Bloomberg Business app. I'm Stephen Carol.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Here's why. I'll be back next week with more.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening.