Google has dismissed claims its new “Willow” chip can break modern encryption. The company’s quantum AI director says the chip is not capable of cracking modern cryptography, contradicting warnings from the White House and security experts. According to Google, a significant breakthrough in RSA encryption would require around 4 million physical qubits, far beyond the chip’s current capabilities. While some Chinese researchers have claimed to break RSA with smaller quantum computers, their methods remain skeptical among security experts. Google is instead focusing on post-quantum cryptography as part of its efforts to defend against potential threats from broken encryption. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a competition to create quantum-safe cryptography standards, with plans to select new algorithms by the end of the year.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/12/24319879/google-willow-cant-break-rsa-cryptography