China lays claim to quantum supremacy with photon technology

Chinese researchers claim to have achieved quantum supremacy after successfully using a prototype system to perform a task that would take one of the world’s fastest supercomputers 2 bn years in just a few minutes, reports Wired. The Jiuzhang system, built by a team of researchers at University of Science and Technology of China, seems to have comfortably outperformed Google, which last year also achieved quantum supremacy — a term referring to a computation beyond the brainpower of a conventional supercomputer. The Chinese model uses completely different technology, manipulating photons instead of the more conventional approach of using super-cold superconductors.