Shorts
What happened
IBM just committed ten billion dollars to building a large, reliable quantum computer by 2029. Regular computers work with ones and zeros. Quantum computers work in a completely different way that lets them solve certain problems millions of times faster — problems that today's computers simply cannot crack in a human lifetime.
Why it matters
The context behind the story.
If it works, quantum computing could break most of the encryption that protects your bank account, your messages, and government secrets — but it could also revolutionize medicine, materials science, and artificial intelligence in ways that are hard to fully imagine yet. The race to get there first is being treated by governments and companies as one of the most important technological contests of our era.
Takeaway
Ten billion dollars says the quantum era arrives this decade. The world that comes after it will look very different.
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