Recent weeks put quantum computing in Israeli headlines. Intel announced it will buy Classiq, an Israeli software company in the field, for about $2.2 billion. But most people are still not sure what a quantum computer actually is. Here is an explanation without equations.
An ordinary computer, from the phone in your pocket to the world's most powerful supercomputer, works with bits: tiny switches that are each 0 or 1. Every computation, from a photo to a YouTube video, is ultimately a huge sequence of zeros and ones. A quantum computer works with qubits, units that exploit the laws of quantum physics. A qubit can be in a state that combines 0 and 1 at once, and several qubits can be 'entangled', linked so that what happens to one affects another. The result: for certain kinds of problems, a quantum computer can explore an enormous number of possibilities in a way an ordinary computer cannot.
It is important to understand what a quantum computer will not do: it will not run your WhatsApp or games faster. It suits very specific problems, such as simulating molecules for new drugs and materials, complex optimization, and breaking certain kinds of encryption. The big problem today is noise: qubits are extremely sensitive to heat, vibration and interference and lose information quickly. So most quantum computers are still experimental, and the race is to build systems that correct their own errors.
So why is Intel paying billions now? Because whoever reaches a reliable quantum computer first will hold a huge advantage, and the foundations are being laid today. Classiq does not build a computer but software that lets developers write quantum algorithms in a high-level language and run them on different kinds of machines. It is similar to the role programming languages played for ordinary computers: without them, only a few could write software. Intel is developing its own quantum hardware, and Classiq gives it the software layer too.
Why does it matter to you? Encryption. Much of the encryption protecting your bank account and messages rests on mathematical problems an ordinary computer cannot solve. A large, reliable quantum computer could solve some of them. That has not happened yet, but organizations and governments are already starting to move to 'post-quantum' encryption meant to withstand such machines. The transition will take years, and it is also an opportunity for Israeli companies.
