Science & Technology

The promise of quantum computers | Matt Langione

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. What if tiny microparticles could help us solve the world’s biggest problems in a matter of minutes? That’s the promise — and magic — of quantum computers, says Matt Langione. Speaking next to an actual IBM quantum computer, he…

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What if tiny microparticles could help us solve the world’s biggest problems in a matter of minutes? That’s the promise — and magic — of quantum computers, says Matt Langione. Speaking next to an actual IBM quantum computer, he explains how these machines solve complex challenges like developing vaccines and calculating financial risk in an entirely new way that’s exponentially faster than the best supercomputers — and shares why industries should prepare now for this new leap in computing.

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88 Comments

  1. James Mayo

    March 9, 2021 at 7:11 pm

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  2. Nuby

    March 9, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    0:20 Someone somehow managed to convince the entire world that ‘inequality’ is a ‘problem’ that needs solving.

  3. evarona

    March 9, 2021 at 7:33 pm

    Quantum computing can help us solve aging and combat all types of diseases. The first person to live forever is already alive today.

    • Guy Withdacap

      March 9, 2021 at 8:01 pm

      Your eternity is in average just 9000 years long. 😉

  4. Pip

    March 9, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    It’s all well and good to have the concept of creating a device for which multiple values can be given at any one given state of time.
    Designing such a machine is within our capabilities, the limitations of which are endless. Will we see one with a usable human interface this century, possibly…

  5. Lori Moon

    March 9, 2021 at 7:51 pm

    Wow!!

  6. Thomas blu

    March 9, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    It has been so interesting! Thanks to much

  7. DD

    March 9, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    Loved the info but it was shot so weird

  8. Christian Campbell

    March 9, 2021 at 8:18 pm

    Search Google’s quantum computing. Way more informal than his

  9. BuyWonderBread

    March 9, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    Wtf is behind this dude?

  10. Oscar Rigo

    March 9, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    Climate change is the biggest problem Matt. Cmon

  11. A Q

    March 9, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    Luckily, normal computers are fast enough to play this video at 150% speed…

  12. Victrix

    March 9, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    “At a cost to business and society”
    “Encouraging business leaders and policy makers”

    It might seem nitpicky but, the way this guy consistently mentions business before society is extremely telling. This is the sort of guy we don’t want in charge of world changing technology.

  13. TeknoMage13

    March 9, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    This comes off as an elevator pitch for VC investment. I’m onboard with QC, but I feel the format should be different for TED talks.

  14. bj0rn

    March 9, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    I don’t think that quantum computers allowing banks to lend even more beyond their means is a strong selling point for most people.

  15. Kim Senior

    March 9, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    You can keep your covid vaccine!

  16. J. R.

    March 9, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    This machine will make the world more and more boring to live in.

  17. Mike Purdy

    March 9, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    Let the computer speak, then he can take the day off

  18. mick mccrory

    March 9, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    When quantum computers are perfected, the first thing they will be used for is designing a “”Quantum Bomb.”

  19. Martin Low

    March 9, 2021 at 11:00 pm

    This really excites me as an engineer. Wish I could contribute somehow 😕

  20. SuperFlatrock

    March 9, 2021 at 11:09 pm

    Bureaucracy and greed slow vaccine production. They move fast enough when they want/have to.

  21. Zeh Ven

    March 9, 2021 at 11:17 pm

    Theres a video online of the Moderna ceo saying it took them only 2 days to design there covid vaccine…..old school pcs used. Hmmm soo explain that.

  22. hmmm

    March 9, 2021 at 11:22 pm

    Yes, more magic please, scientists.

  23. Gorakh

    March 9, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    Indeed we are really near to creating artificial humans with mature quantum computer

  24. unholyrevenger72

    March 9, 2021 at 11:48 pm

    so world poverty can be ended with crypto mining.

  25. Luis

    March 9, 2021 at 11:54 pm

    How do they know it takes half an hour to solve a problem if there is no quantum computer yet??

  26. GuitarZombie

    March 10, 2021 at 12:48 am

    sorcery……………..

  27. Plug in

    March 10, 2021 at 12:53 am

    Come to my village and bring changes with your technology

  28. Kongolox

    March 10, 2021 at 1:24 am

    actually we DO know what, climate change. it has proven many many times.. this self doubting is really harmful and not doing anyone a favor!

  29. Hippo 2000

    March 10, 2021 at 4:35 am

    This speaker was not engaging at all

    • Malvin Ooi

      March 10, 2021 at 11:49 pm

      EXAGGERATING WITH BIG MOUNT IS HIS EXPERTISE. AN ARROGANT MAN BUT NO SUBSTANCE YET LIKE TO SHOW OFF.

  30. Lauren Doe

    March 10, 2021 at 5:10 am

    My concern is that the thing we need to be most concerned about…. is inconceivable today.

  31. Eli Nope

    March 10, 2021 at 5:24 am

    How would mapping the nitrogenase’s microstructure even at the lepton and quark level going to solve this problem? You going to use some type of particle accelerator to mimic the gluon field or something? I assume that is what you mean by the mazelike complicated structure, and I will give you that QCD is computationally intense. But I reject your claim that solving that mathematical issue would somehow magically solve the fertilizer problem. What I could say is that banks are using this stuff for encryption purposes, and that national power is being consolidated and privatized. Give me a real reason I should be interested in furthering the cause of quantum computing.

  32. Clint

    March 10, 2021 at 7:38 am

    FINALLY, a talk related to useful knowledge instead of the WOKE BS that ted have been pumping out the past year.

  33. A C

    March 10, 2021 at 8:09 am

    After listening to the first few sentences, I discovered he voted for sleepy Joe 😴 😒

  34. Boom Patater

    March 10, 2021 at 9:09 am

    Love the info, good video. The way he speaks tho seems like a lawyer trying convince you that his client going around murdering homeless people was a good thing and understands that its frowned upon in this society and moving forward his client won’t murder homeless people indiscriminately.

  35. eyemall ears

    March 10, 2021 at 9:29 am

    I need to be able to buy a house before they kill bitcoin

  36. Dennis Albert

    March 10, 2021 at 11:32 am

    Everyone saying it will take time but you don’t notice people are getting to their 50s and 30 and those crisis in the society today drives innovation, time, soon I bet.

  37. filippe999

    March 10, 2021 at 1:07 pm

    Kind of unrelated but since quantum computers can deal in exploration of multiple possibilities at once thanks to the quantum effects involved in superposition, I wonder if we could use it in the far future as a GPU for highly complex tasks currently, like ray tracing or physics simulations with high fidelity

    • Mathew Wright

      March 10, 2021 at 4:42 pm

      If we have a general quantum CPU, then it can be used as GPU and GPU tech will likely evolve to be quantum as we understand more

  38. Neo Anderson

    March 10, 2021 at 2:29 pm

    not every solution is in computers, like this guy kind of implies. Taking a cold shower and getting away from your smartphone can do wonders in your own life man

  39. FelixIsAFox

    March 10, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    There is no promise of quantum computers yet, they are utterly useless, the end.
    ps. Geez the ignorance about computing and AI in the comments is insane.. please educate yourself before you talk nonsense.

  40. FelixIsAFox

    March 10, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    Unsubbed from this nonsense channel, just nonsense stacked upon pseudoscience upon more nonsense.

  41. Mr. Mercury

    March 10, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    It’s just like nuclear fusion, it’s always 30 years away…

  42. Brian Amaral

    March 10, 2021 at 4:23 pm

    This guy had a hard time reading his cards; I couldn’t get through this video.

  43. Jack Frost

    March 10, 2021 at 4:50 pm

    They will be many more.
    To map every cell in the human body, Even Atoms
    Nothing will be impossible
    So we will be gods.will god will become our enemy, maybe he already Is ? If your free! God used Quantum in the Flood.

  44. William Crosby

    March 10, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    Theres a room temp photonic quantum computer that we will probably see on our phone in less than 10 years.

  45. Ignacio Ferrentino

    March 10, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    Not only can help humanity. It can also cause massive problems of security with existing security computer if it falls into the wrong hands

  46. Lostie DeMonde

    March 10, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    We don’t want words, we want result !
    We don’t want rocket crashes (still since the 60’s), we want to go to space !
    Words words words … make me sick !

    I am 60 years old and we are still at the same stages and hopes of the 80s ** nothing has changed **!
    Unfortunately young people are still targeted by these false hopes as we have been in our time!
    History repeats itself and nothing will happen!
    **Think about this** we are still on rocket crashes as it was in the 60’s!
    The world situation has nothing to do with this paralysis!
    & **they dare crash their rocket near an other one** !
    **The last SN9 crash was just beside an other SN9 a few hundred meters from there**
    Why they let a second SN9 near the landing place ?
    A crash was possible but they took a stupid chance !
    They can’t acces space …**they can’t** … so they need to waste time !
    Again : **they need to waste time**
    Obadiah 1: 4 **When you rise as high as the eagle, set your threshing floor among the stars, I will bring you down**
    … the result after what they saw on the moon is this **nothing since 1972** … the moon & all other sphere in space are prohibited !
    About Elon … He has masters that gave him power but just for a time ,,, he personally believes that he has power … no Elon you are confined as we are … You are manipulated & they will let you down!
    No moon, no mars ,,, nothing at all … just youth idiots with manipulated hopes by some **lunatic** since a long time !
    Today Your not only confined in your house but also on earth since the beginning of time …
    You will see crash & crash & crash over & over until they can’t do more **EVEN WITH BILLIONS & BILLIONS & BILLIONS OF PROFITS** !

  47. John Walker

    March 10, 2021 at 9:08 pm

    You can watch these videos, but don’t invest your money!
    It is an investment talk, don’t you see?
    Quantum computing is not real.
    Quantum computing is the biggest hoax in the history of mankind.

  48. nobody nowhere

    March 10, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    so basically he is saying that quantum computers will finally fix capitalism, this time it will definitely work… it just needs more computational power.

  49. James Nordblom

    March 11, 2021 at 12:21 am

    I miss all the blinking lights.

  50. Malvin Ooi

    March 11, 2021 at 12:22 am

    OVERLY EXAGGERATED SPEAKER. SHOWING OFF BY BOMBARDING WORDS. ARROGANT BEHAVIOR WITH BIG MOUNT. A QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR AND QUALIFICATIONS.

    MATT PROFILES……

    Matt previously worked in Hollywood as an agent at the United Talent Agency, and as a teacher and coach at boarding schools Phillips Academy Andover and Deerfield Academy.

    EDUCATION BACKGROUND IS MEDIOCRE. ENGLISH…LITERATURE…”CERTIFICATE IN NEUROSCIENCE”.

    A HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE QUALIFICATION AND PSUEDO MAKEUP BEHAVIORS.

    A TALKING HEAD FROM BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP. NO SUBSTANCE.

  51. MrLoobu

    March 11, 2021 at 12:27 am

    Yes buy can you explain it?
    No
    Perfect

  52. MrLoobu

    March 11, 2021 at 12:32 am

    How about we use our brains instead of building one? I dont trust people who talk to me like a 6 year old either.

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    March 11, 2021 at 12:43 am

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      March 11, 2021 at 12:57 am

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      March 11, 2021 at 12:59 am

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      March 11, 2021 at 1:01 am

      James Wilson is a pro trader and a guru in describing financial trading to the basic trader. He is the best and with my portfolio growing firmly with his trade guide, I hold no reservations in proposing him as a mentor.

  54. Kenneth

    March 11, 2021 at 7:47 am

    Developing a drug would cost big pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars in research… which is mostly subsidised by governments and initiated and mostly completed by educational institutions. They just privatise the results with little cost and milk the lives out of the taxpayers who actually paid for the development. Just look at insulin for god’s sake.

  55. Ankit Roy

    March 11, 2021 at 8:30 am

    Great delivery. This is all very fascinating! As soon as Quantum Computing technology is mature enough we should be able to simulate so many complex biological phenomena! However, I can’t help but wonder, what comes after this, how are we to tackle NP complete problems?

  56. Maxwell Dillon

    March 11, 2021 at 9:15 am

    5 trillion trillion trillion trillion years to 30 minutes? Say no more…

  57. Jessie Maisie

    March 11, 2021 at 11:11 am

    I haven’t listened to anything remotely scientific since I was 16 (I am 22 now) but decided to watch this video and wow, I am really glad I did!

  58. 刘俊华

    March 11, 2021 at 1:31 pm

    I can’t uderstand these.Because my english is so poor

  59. A god in the gap

    March 11, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    8:37 great talk about the potential power of quantum computing … but if history has taught us anything it’s that banks are already sufficiently comfortable in their risktaking.

    Don’t give them more excuses to go even deeper … we already know to where that road leads.

  60. Rusty Spotted Cat

    March 11, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    … superposition … entanglement … interference … many worlds interp.

  61. Jay

    March 11, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    Great explanation!

  62. Wyatt Buckner

    March 11, 2021 at 11:24 pm

    I’m glad I learned quantum physics in outer wilds before watching this video lol

  63. Ruvane Friebus

    March 12, 2021 at 6:31 am

    It will help us solve AI that cannot be breached or hacked

  64. Don Emigholz Jr.

    March 12, 2021 at 6:51 am

    LOOK AWAY! TED is a distraction from the real issues destroying our planet and or economy.
    Right now there are no taxes on the oil profits Conglomerates acquire after (US)military interventions around the world. Right now Japan is looking to allow the company responsible for the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power plant to release huge amounts of radioactive waste into the ocean. Our planet has huge problems and “TED” is one of them by being a distraction, taking up resources and avoiding real life and death problems of our planet.

  65. 0 0

    March 12, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    Sounds like a preacher.

  66. 0 0

    March 12, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    His first sell is to banks. Smart man. He needs banks to fund him and he is bout that money 💰

  67. Griffen Arthurs

    March 13, 2021 at 1:04 am

    Quantum Computers: Well yes, but actually, no.

  68. MalevolentWMD

    March 13, 2021 at 2:52 am

    Stopped after 1:40.

  69. khLfi saLaH eEDdiNe [خلفي صلاح ]

    March 13, 2021 at 7:20 am

    Please support my channel, I am a mathematics professor

  70. Mike Paradis

    March 13, 2021 at 10:18 pm

    He had me until “magic”

  71. Cory Miller

    March 14, 2021 at 1:16 am

    There is no real need for better computers. Fertilizers that are not organic have no real need either. We are not in a agricultural age and videos like this show how truly lost we are when it comes to growing food. Tech giants/big pharma have no idea how to farm and need to keep to there lane .The banks need no help either unless we would like to use are boot to kick them out:] The push for more sometimes gets you way less!

  72. Frank Maclow

    March 14, 2021 at 6:18 am

    A quantum computer could break any code, any password any encrypted system in minutes. The whole world’s economy is based on traditional encryption. If we don’t develop quantum encryption BEFORE quantum computers, we’ll be in serious trouble.

  73. Frank Page

    March 14, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    What if quantum computers told man how to prosper but only if we listen to it? It would have to already know what mankind is capable of and it wont work for human greed.

  74. Shalva Bareladze

    March 14, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    Why are we not funding this?!

  75. Merry Ethan

    March 15, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    Fps? That’s what I thought

  76. tebbi67

    March 15, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    This is a comparison of computing times!. . . . . . . . . but the algorithm is much more crucial. . . . this software does not exist yet, only in the future. Above all, you should link several computer types together and not forget the analog computers!
    And there’s no shame in admitting you know less than you’re letting on.

  77. Raghul R

    March 16, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    Wish to be a quantum computer developer..but anyways difficult to find a mentor

  78. David Clark

    March 16, 2021 at 11:35 pm

    Yes anything used for good can be used for evil.

  79. bjr E. WA.

    March 17, 2021 at 1:27 am

    who is Matt Langione. What are his credentials?

  80. tribal art

    March 18, 2021 at 11:39 am

    Those computers will never be wide spread …
    You don’t install a nuclear reactor into each house…you connect houses to the grid.
    Why do people think this tech is “the future of computer” … it s something else, totally different, and for others purposes.
    Quantum computer will nto replace classic computers anytime soon.
    You don’t need one to run your stupids apps,games and movies…

  81. Matt Roszak

    March 18, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    This guy sounds like he’s trying to sell something.
    Quantum computing sounds great, but I’m sure it comes with all sorts of new issues, and current laws haven’t even caught up to the problems caused by social media, cryptocurrency, and automated algorithms. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves and think more computing power alone will fix everything with no undesirable side effects.

  82. Artemius

    March 18, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    Sounds like commercial. Which it is, considering where this man works. Nice for youe reputation, TED.

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