Shane Smith sits down with Julian Kelly, Senior Director of Hardware at Google Quantum AI

and architect of the groundbreaking Willow chip, to map out the next frontier of computing.

Kelly explains how Google’s 100plusqubit processors now complete benchmark tasks in minutes

that would outlive the universe on today’s fastest supercomputers, why errorcorrected “logical”

qubits are the last hurdle to practical machines, and which realworld problems will fall first once

quantum power comes online. Along the way they tackle encryption panic, AI synergy, the

global quantum race, and the mindbending philosophy behind manyworlds.

Conversation Highlights:

Willow & “beyondclassical” benchmarks: 10²⁵year speedup over conventional

supercomputers

Roadmap milestones → quantum supremacy → scalable error correction →

“Milestone 3” logical qubit

Drug discovery, battery chemistry, fertilizer synthesis, fusion research & other early killer

apps

Postquantum cryptography and the myth vs. reality of “QDay” databreach fears

Cooling to 10 milliKelvin, chip design shifts from DWave annealers to gatebased

processors

How AI can train on quantumgenerated data—and how quantum can turbocharge AI

research

Global landscape: Google’s lead, government labs, and the rise of private startups

Philosophical detours: superposition, entanglement, manyworlds interpretations

Fiveyear horizon for the first commercially useful quantum workload

Kelly’s personal journey—from UCSB lab tinkerer to Google’s quantum hardware chief

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