"This study is proof of principle that there is something that quantum devices can already do that outperforms the best available classical strategy, and in a way that's robust and scalable," said Rahul Nandkishore.
In a groundbreaking achievement in Colorado, USA, on March 31, 2025, physicists successfully played a mind-bending "quantum game" using the Quantinuum System Model H1 Quantum Computer. This experiment demonstrates that today's quantum machines can already outperform classical strategies in certain tasks with surprising reliability.
The team created a special, knotted structure of entangled particles. Lasers shuffled ions on a chip to explore the strange behavior of qubits. This is a proof that scalable, error-resistant quantum computing may be closer than we think.
The researchers assembled a network of qubits into a "topological" phase of matter. This allowed them to play a simple mathematical game without disrupting the quantum computer. The researchers showed that they were able to achieve quantum pseudotelepathy, and win the game, roughly 95% of the time or more.
Scientists believe that quantum computers could one day perform a range of tasks with unheard-of speed. This includes discovering new drugs to treat human illnesses or exploring how atoms and electrons interact at very small scales. The team's game reveals that today's quantum computers may already be able to grow bigger without losing their edge, at least in a few cases.