Google's Willow chip demonstrates magic state cultivation, cutting errors 40x
ymatias · x · 2026-10-16
Google Quantum AI published new research in Science demonstrating "magic state cultivation" on hardware for the first time using its Willow processor. Magic state creation has been one of quantum computing's worst bottlenecks, traditionally threatening to consume up to 95% of a processor's capacity.
Key results:
- 40x error reduction vs. un-cultivated states
- 99.99% logical T-state fidelity
- Successful grafting into a distance-5 surface code
This turns a 20-year theoretical barrier into experimental reality, drastically reducing the physical overhead for useful fault-tolerant quantum computing.
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