Quantum computing is far from fiction but it is also out of reach for consumers and businesses with limited budgets. Intel has announced that it has successfully produced a 17-qubit superconducting chip for QuTech. Intel fabricates quantum chips, QuTech runs tests on the chips and sends feedback to Intel where its employees work to build improved renditions.
The new test chip is not a large step forward in terms of raw compute power but it is a step in the right direction towards more stable production. Producing qubits in a reliable fashion is still a difficult task even for Intel’s skilled engineers. Merely observing qubits can cause data loss to occur let alone exposure to external noise.
