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Google’s new 72-qubit quantum processor is the largest yet. Called Bristlecone, it was on 5 March at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Los Angeles.

The tech giant is racing rivals like IBM to demonstrate a quantum computer that can surpass the abilities of ordinary machines. This goal of “quantum supremacy” is generally thought to require about 50 quantum bits, or qubits, and Google hopes to achieve it this year. However, quantum simulations on regular computers have continually raised that 50-qubit bar, leaving the finish line uncertain.

A successful quantum…