The writer is senior vice-president for research, labs, technology and society at Google-Alphabet

Quantum computing able to harness the subatomic world may seem like a distant prospect to some people. This misapprehension persists despite recent research breakthroughs, many built on the foundational research of 2025 Nobel laureates John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis. But quantum computers are already being used for scientific research and real-world applications appear likely to emerge in the near future, even before we get to the goal of large-scale, error-corrected computing systems.

Estimates of how long it will be before we can use quantum computing in ways that will affect most people’s lives vary from a few years to decades. Rather than a single light-switch moment when we shift all at once from not having a quantum computer to having one, it’s more likely that we will follow a more gradual quantum continuum as the systems increasingly become useful.