Willow quantum chip.Google Quantum AI
Google is partnering with the UK’s national lab for quantum computing to invite researchers to develop applications for its most powerful processor, the Willow chip.
These research areas include material science, chemistry, medicine, and life sciences.
Under this initiative, the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) has partnered with Google Quantum AI to expand access to the Willow quantum processor for more UK researchers.
UK researchers are encouraged to submit proposals to access the Willow processor. It is known for its state-of-the-art technology and world-leading error correction capabilities.
The partnership is designed to uncover new real-world applications across disciplines by solving problems that classical computers currently cannot handle.
“Access to this new resource from Google will help keep Britain’s quantum innovators at the cutting edge, bolstering their efforts to put quantum to work in the design of new medicines, the shift to clean, affordable energy, and more. All of this work is crucial to this Government’s mission of national renewal,” said Lord Vallance, UK Science Minister, in a press release on December 12.
Willow’s power
Quantum devices operate on principles fundamentally distinct from the classical computers found in our smartphones and laptops.
Classical computers store information as simple binary bits (0 or 1).
Willow, a superconducting quantum processor unveiled in December 2024, operates on qubits. It taps into particle-physics phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to process an infinite number of possibilities simultaneously.
The system’s potential power increases exponentially with each additional qubit.
Willow’s performance is staggering. It has already solved a key challenge in quantum error correction, a problem pursued for almost 30 years. Particularly, the chip reduces errors as the system scales up with more qubits.
In a benchmark test, the chip completed a standard computation in under five minutes. For perspective, that same task is estimated to take one of the world’s fastest supercomputers an unfathomable “10 septillion” years — a duration vastly exceeding the age of the Universe.
UK collaboration
UK researchers are invited to submit innovative proposals; those selected will collaborate closely with specialists from Google and the NQCC to design and conduct their experiments using the processor.
The collaboration arrives as the global quantum race intensifies, with rivals like Amazon and IBM developing their own technologies.
The BBC reported that the UK is a major player in the quantum industry. Firms like Quantinuum are valued at a massive $10 billion as of September.
Moreover, the National Quantum Computing Centre currently hosts seven quantum computers from British-based firms like Quantum Motion, ORCA, and Oxford Ionics.
To support this key area of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, the government is committing £670 million, with officials estimating that quantum technology could contribute £11 billion to the UK economy by 2045.
Meanwhile, Willow has already been used in academic studies.
For instance, in September 2025, scientists successfully observed a never-before-seen exotic phase of matter using its 58-qubit configuration.
Moreover, Google’s Quantum AI team has introduced a new algorithm called Quantum Echoes, which they claim could accelerate quantum computing. It could aid the design of improved drugs, catalysts, polymers, and batteries.
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