Chinese scientists have developed a 504-qubit quantum computing chip to provide researchers worldwide through a new cloud computing platform.
According to China Daily, the new chip named “Xiaohong” is the most powerful chip ever created by China and is designed to enhance the management systems and interactions of quantum bits, or qubits, in computers. Scientists hope this chip will help scale existing computers to handle more complex tasks.
“Xiaohong” was developed by scientists at the Quantum Information and Quantum Physics Excellence Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The Chinese quantum computing company QuantumCTek, which received the first “Xiaohong” chip, is expected to collaborate with China Telecom Quantum Group to integrate the 504-qubit chip into new quantum computers.
China develops a 504-qubit quantum computing chip. (Photo: Quantum Information and Quantum Physics Excellence Center).
This system will then be made available to researchers worldwide through a cloud computing platform developed by the China Telecom Quantum Group.
Wang Zhen, the deputy general manager of China Telecom Quantum Group, stated that the new system will allow users across various fields to conduct research on practical issues and algorithms efficiently, while also accelerating the application of quantum computing in real-world scenarios.
Xiaohong is designed to meet the performance standards of cloud computing platforms similar to those produced by IBM or AWS. However, it is not intended to compete technically with advanced American technologies such as the IBM Quantum Condor 1,121-qubit chip, said Gong Ming, a researcher at the Quantum Information and Quantum Physics Excellence Center.
Instead, scientists hope that access to “Xiaohong” via cloud computing will promote the development of large-scale quantum control and measurement systems (QCMCS).
Unimaginably Fast Speeds
Quantum computers fundamentally operate differently from classical computers. Unlike classical bits, which can only represent 0 or 1, qubits can exist simultaneously in multiple states. This allows quantum computers to perform calculations in parallel and at speeds that are nearly unimaginable if qubits are entangled.
Meanwhile, QCMCS are components that play a crucial role in quantum computing – acting as a bridge connecting traditional computers with quantum computers. This connection allows quantum computers to interpret commands received from the classical computing environment and manage corresponding qubit states.
Although the Xiaohong 504-qubit chip is the largest quantum chip in China to date, it is not the largest in the world. That title currently belongs to Atom Computing, which announced a massive 1,125-qubit quantum computer in October 2023.
Notable previous contributions from China include the Jiuzhang 2.0 and Zuchongzhi 2.1 supercomputers. When China launched the Jiuzhang quantum computer in 2020, it claimed to be the fastest computer in the world – reportedly surpassing Google’s Sycamore supercomputer by 10 billion times.
