Google's 105‑Qubit Willow Claims 13,000× Advantage

Google announced that its 105‑qubit Willow quantum processor ran a new algorithm called Quantum Echoes and, in a Nature paper, claimed a verifiable quantum advantage by completing a task about 13,000 times faster than the best classical algorithm running on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers. The experiment used an out‑of‑time‑order correlator related to NMR to compute molecular structure, was demonstrated on small molecules, and — Google says — is reproducible and verifiable on other platforms. Nobel laureate Michel Devoret and Google scientists called the result a major step toward applications such as drug discovery, materials design and molecular modeling, and CEO Sundar Pichai publicly praised the work. Independent experts cautioned the result is technically significant but narrowly scoped, limited by current error rates and scale, and that broadly useful, fault‑tolerant quantum machines remain years away. The announcement boosted investor interest in quantum startups and lifted Alphabet shares, reflecting market and community excitement despite the technical caveats.