A quantum computer solved a specific problem in 200 seconds that would take classical computers 10,000 years

In October 2019, Google's quantum processor Sycamore performed a specific sampling computation in 200 seconds that Google claimed would take the world's most powerful classical supercomputer 10,000 years. IBM contested this, arguing their classical computer could solve the same problem in 2.5 days with better algorithms. The dispute highlighted that quantum advantage is highly problem-specific: for most real-world tasks, classical computers are still faster. Quantum computers offer theoretical advantages primarily in cryptography, drug discovery simulations, and optimisation problems — none of which Sycamore's demonstration addressed directly.

Source: Arute et al., Nature (2019)