The illustration presents an exploded view of a quantum computer, with glowing layers suspended above a bright core against a backdrop of servers and circuit patterns. It symbolises the complex architecture of quantum computing, where multiple interconnect

Illustration: Raven Jiang

Jul 29th 2026|6 min read

IN 2013 GOOGLE and NASA, America’s space agency, launched a quantum computing lab. The idea was to use a specialised quantum computer built by D-Wave, an American firm, to improve the onerous task of training of machine-learning algorithms. Alas, the lab was ahead of its time not just once, but twice over. Neither machine learning—soon to be rechristened “artificial intelligence”—nor quantum computing were then mature technologies, as D-Wave’s boss, Alan Baratz, now concedes. A paper published in N_ature Physics_ the year after the lab was founded showed that D-Wave’s machine was no better at AI work than a normal graphics-processing unit (GPU).

Yet the fates of AI and quantum computing remain entwined. Some see them as complementary: advances in AI have boosted attempts to build quantum computers, even as progress in quantum algorithms have suggested novel ways of improving AI. Others see the technologies as competitors. To listen to modern AI labs, by the time they are up and running there may not be many useful problems left for quantum computers to tackle.

Spain's Military Emergencies Unit personnel fighting a wildfire.

AI and quantum computers will be frenemies