A research team at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) developed a quantum computing prototype that provides better performance than all existing supercomputers. The superconducting quantum processor Zuchongzhi-3 operates at a speed one million times faster than Google's Sycamore quantum processor, which had established the benchmark for quantum computing.

Zuchongzhi-3 achieves its high computational speed through its combination of 105 qubits and 182 couplers. Zuchongzhi-3 surpasses Google's Sycamore quantum processor because it contains 105 qubits while Sycamore only had 67 qubits. Random quantum circuit sampling tasks provided the proof of this breakthrough because they represent a standard evaluation method for quantum system performance. The sharp development of quantum computing technology focuses on developing devices that can handle supercomputing tasks that classical machines need years to finish. The United States and China lead an intense competition to control quantum technology, while China currently holds the lead position.