In a remarkable turnaround from a challenging year marked by intensifying AI competition that threatened its dominance in internet search, Google is closing 2024 on an optimistic note. The tech giant’s stock has surged nearly 14% over the past month, rebounding from previous quarterly lows. While the company is busy releasing substantial enhancements to its AI offerings, much of its recovery and recent rise in investor confidence can be attributed to its focused initiatives in quantum computing that are finally gathering steam and will continue to drive its success in coming years, according to Technology Foresights, an innovation intelligence platform by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
In November 2024, Google unveiled Willow, a groundbreaking quantum computing chip that reportedly accomplishes a standard mathematical benchmark test in under five minutes—a task that would take today’s most advanced supercomputers approximately 10 septillion (10^25) years to complete. While these remarkable results reflect Google’s strategic focus on quantum computing, they are backed by consistent progress in the field.
According to GlobalData’s signals, the company’s patent filings in quantum computing have grown steadily at 20% year-over-year for the past few years. This commitment is further evidenced by a sharp increase in quantum computing talent acquisition, with Google’s hiring in this specialized field surging 64% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Sourabh Nyalkalkar, Practice Head of Innovation Products at GlobalData, comments: “Analysis of Google’s quantum computing patent portfolio through Technology Foresights reveals the company’s comprehensive approach to developing fundamental components across the quantum computing value chain. The innovation leadership map identifies more than 15 critical areas where Google maintains active research and development efforts. The company has established a particularly strong position in quantum error correction, one of the field’s most well-documented challenges. Additionally, Google has made significant strides in Ising machine models, which are crucial for solving combinatorial optimization problems.”
Looking beyond numbers, Google’s substantial contributions to quantum computing research demonstrate its commitment to addressing the field’s long-standing challenges. The company’s research team achieved a significant breakthrough in April 2024 with the publication of a paper detailing methods for stabilizing quantum states through controlled dissipation in transverse field Ising models. Further advancing the field, Google secured a patent in November 2024 that addresses the reduction of parasitic interactions between quantum bits—a crucial development for accelerating error detection cycles in large-scale quantum computing systems.
Nyalkalkar continues: “Despite 2024 being a challenging year for the quantum computing sector, marked by the closure of several prominent ventures including Zapata Computing, Nording Quantum Computing Group, and Alibaba’s quantum computing unit, Google has emerged as a resilient leader in the field. While companies like D-Wave and Rigetti & Co face potential delisting due to extended development cycles and waning investor patience, Google has distinguished itself through sustained research output and substantial investments, positioning itself as a steadfast pioneer in quantum computing technology”.
Nyalkalkar concludes: “While Google’s Willow chip remains in the experimental phase, with commercially viable, room-temperature quantum computers still several years away, its potential impact has already reverberated through the technology sector. The announcement of Willow’s capabilities triggered a significant decline in cryptocurrency trading worldwide, as its computational power could theoretically compromise modern cryptographic algorithms. Though practical implementation remains on the horizon, Google has clearly established itself as the pioneer leading a transformative shift in modern computing, one that promises to fundamentally reshape our technological landscape.”
