Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 246 Ultimate Showdown

The Global Quantum Computing Summit was held in Singapore.

Two quantum computers were placed in the center of the venue. One was the Tianyan-2 (402), with 5,000 qubits and a quantum volume exceeding 150,000. The other was the Frontier-1, a joint project between Microsoft and Google, with 5,000 qubits and a claimed quantum volume of 100,000. The two machines used different technological approaches, but were indistinguishable in the face of testing. The results spoke for themselves.

Shen Yiming sat in the third row of the venue, a laptop resting on his lap. The screen displayed the real-time operational status of Tianyan-2. All indicators were green. He looked calmer than ever. A truly prepared person has no need to be nervous.

Sitting next to him were three core engineers from the 402 Quantum Computing Department. This small team of four had flown from Hangzhou to Singapore with only three laptops and a set of encrypted communication equipment. The Microsoft and Google joint booth across the street was three times the size of theirs, and their number of engineers was five times that of theirs. But a technological battle isn't about numbers.

The first test: financial encryption cracking. A 2048-bit RSA key, a standard test task. The test environment was provided by the Cryptologic Association, and neither side had prior access to the key sample. The system that first successfully cracked the complete original data was declared the winner.

The host pressed the start button.

The Tianyan-2 quantum error-correcting array completed its initial state preparation in 0.03 seconds. Two hundred logical qubits were assigned to a dedicated circuit for key decryption, with each logical qubit backed by a redundant code of twenty-five physical qubits. Several months ago, during a late-night research effort, Shen Yiming increased the error-tolerance threshold of the error-correcting code from 0.3% to 0.7%, meaning that the qubits would not err over a longer coherence time.

Forty-seven seconds.

The cracking result popped up on the screen of Tianyan-2.

The entire venue fell silent. Frontier One was still running. Some people in the audience were looking at their phone timers. Thirty minutes passed. At the thirty-first minute, Frontier One's screen lit up.

Forty-seven seconds versus thirty-one minutes. A difference of thirty-nine times. When the host simultaneously displayed both sets of data on the main screen, the audience erupted in applause mixed with laughter. It wasn't mockery, but a reaction of uncontrollable shock.

The second test: protein folding simulation. This involves calculating the all-electronic structure of a protein complex containing over 20,000 amino acids. Test samples are randomly selected from the World Protein Database, and the calculation results are compared with internationally recognized experimental values.

Tianyan-2 took four minutes and twelve seconds. The error was ±0.1 millielectronvolts. In the field of quantum chemistry, an error of 0.1 millielectronvolts means simulation precision down to the level of chemical bonds.

The Frontier 1 satellite took two hours and nine minutes to complete. The error was ±0.4 millielectron volts.

The difference isn't on the multiple level; it's on the exponential level.

The third test: Continuous operation of quantum error correction. This tests how long a quantum computer can operate continuously without incurring uncorrectable errors.

Tianyan-2 operated continuously for 87 hours without a single fatal error. During those 87 hours, hundreds of logical qubits performed random circuit sampling tasks, and the error correction codes for each logical qubit were monitored and automatically repaired in real time.

At the ninth hour, Frontier One experienced an irreversible decoherence. A group of atoms in the physical qubit array lost synchronization, and the error correction circuit was unable to compensate in time, causing the test to terminate.

Nine hours versus eighty-seven hours.

When the final results of the three tests were displayed on the main screen, the entire room fell silent for at least ten seconds. More than a thousand leading researchers, business executives, and journalists from the global quantum computing field remained silent. The comparison of the three sets of data on the screen was immediately apparent; the difference in each result was more than an order of magnitude.

A quantum physics professor from ETH Zurich stood up and clapped a few times in the direction of Tianyan-2. Then more people stood up. The applause lasted for nearly two minutes.

The head of Microsoft's quantum team stood up from his seat. He walked to Zuo Cheng, his steps slow but steady. He was a physicist in his early fifties who had worked in Microsoft's quantum division for fifteen years, participating in the development of three generations of quantum computers.

He stood in front of Zuo Cheng, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said three sentences.

"Your error correction algorithm is at least five years ahead of ours. A $50 billion joint R&D center is meaningless today. I might be out of a job soon."

He paused for a moment.

"But as a physicist, I must admit this is the best day in the history of quantum computing."

Zuo Cheng stood up and took his hand. No words were spoken. Sometimes, words are unnecessary.

Shen Yiming watched all of this from the third row. He didn't stand up to applaud, nor did he laugh. He simply closed his laptop screen, took off his headphones, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

A $50 billion joint quantum center. Two years. The most elite quantum computing teams from two of the world's largest technology companies. Completely outperformed by a machine from Hangzhou in three standard test scenarios.

Bloomberg's report was released 47 minutes after the test ended. The headline read: $50 billion down the drain.

The Economist's headline was more direct: The quantum race is over. 402 won all rounds.

A headline from the Nikkei Asian Review was widely circulated and screenshotted by Chinese readers: "Global $50 billion is no match for a single laboratory in Hangzhou."

Zuo Cheng said a few words at the final press conference. His tone was calm, without a trace of smugness. Among the hundreds of people sitting in the audience were those who had lost five hundred billion dollars, those who had bet on the right technological path, and those who were simply there to watch the spectacle. But his attitude towards everyone was the same: calm, respectful, and factual.

"There are no losers in the quantum race. The development of all quantum computers will ultimately advance human science. We welcome competition in any form, because competition makes everyone run faster."

He paused for a moment, then a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"However, it turns out that we are currently the fastest."

After the press conference ended, Zuo Cheng opened the system panel.

In the civilization perception interface, the beam of light in the direction of quantum computing upgraded from deep purple to pure gold. A system notification popped up: The eighth branch of quantum technology has entered its complete stage. All leaves are mature. Passive effect unlocked: Automatic optimization of the global quantum computing power sharing network.

Quantum supremacy has been fully established and is irreversible.

Zuo Cheng closed the control panel and looked down at the end of the corridor. An elderly man in casual clothes was standing there waiting for him.