Intel launches quantum silicon chip that opens door to next-gen computing

Semiconductor giant Intel has launched a 12-qubit quantum-dot silicon chip in a major move towards one day realising mass production of the first commercial quantum computer.

Walk into many quantum-computing laboratories today and scientists across the board – whether they are at tech giants like IBM, Google and Microsoft, or start-ups spun off from universities – will show you how quantum bits, also known as “qubits”, are being cooled to very cold temperatures in giant “fridges”, which are hooked up to hundreds of wires and huge machines.

But it is this huge amount of wires that ”freak out” Intel, according to Mr Pillarisetty.

Intel’s Tunnel Falls 12-qubit quantum dot silicon chip has 62 pins on the chip. The idea is to have as few pins as possible.