Google’s AI journey has been marked by pioneering achievements, from developing Machine Learning and Deep Learning through Google Research and Google Brain to merging with Google DeepMind after acquiring DeepMind in 2014. Despite being a trailblazer, Google was slow to release Bard, its GenAI model, which was criticized for its accuracy and conversational abilities compared to ChatGPT.
Google’s AI Legacy
Google DeepMind has made significant contributions to AI, including developing AlphaGo, which defeated a world Go champion in 2016, and AlphaFold, which accurately predicted protein structures, earning a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024. Google has also developed TensorFlow, an open-source framework for Machine Learning, and large language models like BERT, T5, and LaMDA, used in Google Search, Google Translate, and Google Assistant.
The Rise of Quantum Computing
In 2024, Google unveiled Willow, a 105-qubit quantum chip that achieved the lowest error rate in 30 years. This breakthrough enables complex calculations to be performed in under 5 minutes, a task that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10 million billion billion years.
Julian Kelly, Google Quantum AI’s hardware director, believes Willow can help Google become a leader in the next technological era. By combining quantum computing with AI, Google can address the challenge of data scarcity for training AI models. Current AI models rely heavily on internet data, which is often of low quality or duplicated. Quantum computers can generate high-quality data, filling this gap.
Unlocking New Possibilities
Kelly cited AlphaFold as an example, where quantum computing-generated data was used to train the model. By leveraging quantum computing, Google can create new data for AI training, providing insights into quantum mechanics. With a 5-year window to develop practical applications, Google aims to turn its advancements into a business.
The potential synergy between quantum computing and AI is vast, and Google is poised to capitalize on this opportunity. As the company continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, the future of AI looks brighter than ever.