GoKawiilThis year, I visited the quantum corner at Nvidia GTC, determined to wrap my mind around what has so far been a pretty intimidating topic to me: quantum computers.
This technology promises to revolutionize industries such as finance, cybersecurity, chemistry and more. To get there, however, it needs to crack some very hard problems.
One question still swirling in the quantum computing world is what exactly should qubits be made from. Classical computer bits are anything that exists in a binary state (either a 0 or a 1, a true or a false). These are often physically represented as an electrical charge that's either on or off.
A top-down view of Quantinuum's trapped-ion quantum computer. Celso Bulgatti/CNET
Qubits are anything that can be in one of two states, or both at the same time. This occurs in nature, with particles, and can also be engineered with special circuits.
At Nvidia GTC, I saw quantum computers built around neutral atoms (without charge), ions (with charge), photons (light particles), and engineered quantum circuits.
PsiQuantum's photon-based quantum computer design takes advantage of the existing semiconductor industry. Celso Bulgatti/CNET
Each type of quantum computer has its advantages, but none has become the definitive means of building one.
To see a detailed explanation of each of the four quantum computers we encountered, plus a way that you could connect your classical computer to a real-life quantum computer via the cloud, check out the video in this article.