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Qubits

with Saurabh

The cover story

The strangest idea in computing, explained plainly.

Quantum computing is coming, and almost nobody explains it simply. Qubits is a free, beginner-first series that does. Start from zero, one idea per lesson. No physics degree, no heavy maths.

Subscribe to Qubits. It’s free Start with the big ideas

Why quantum

Why learn quantum, and why now?

You don’t need a quantum computer, a lab or a physics degree. Here’s why it’s worth an hour of your week, with the evidence.

  1. 1.

    Serious money is going in

    Investors put $12.6 billion into quantum start-ups in 2025, about 6.3 times more than in 2024. In June 2026, IBM committed more than $10 billion over five years to build fault-tolerant quantum computers.

    Sources: McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor 2026 · IBM, June 2026

  2. 2.

    AI is now designing quantum circuits

    Google’s Gemini 4 Argon model improved key quantum circuits by 40% over the best published designs, within minutes. Google Quantum AI then opened a public Kaggle competition to build smaller, verifiable circuits with AI and search. This is where your AI skills meet quantum.

    Sources: Google, Gemini 4 Argon, September 2026 · Google Quantum AI × Kaggle, October 2026

  3. 3.

    Real results, not just promises

    In October 2025, Google published the first verifiable quantum advantage in Nature: its Willow chip ran an algorithm called Quantum Echoes about 13,000 times faster than Google’s estimate for one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.

    Source: Google Quantum Echoes, October 2025

  4. 4.

    Online security is already changing

    NIST published the first quantum-safe encryption standards in August 2024, and in October 2026 finalised its guide for switching over. The US aims to move federal systems by 2035, and its most sensitive systems sooner.

    Sources: NIST, August 2024 · NIST, October 2026

  5. 5.

    Few people understand it yet

    Only about 16,500 people worked at dedicated quantum companies in 2025, while 8,261 new quantum roles opened that year. The industry says it is especially short of people who can bridge quantum with other skills. You don’t need to be a physicist to be one of them.

    Source: QED-C State of the Global Quantum Industry 2026

Figures checked in November 2026. Company claims are their own; we link the original so you can judge.

Four big ideas

Four ideas. That’s the whole foundation.

Quantum computing sounds intimidating, but it rests on a few ideas you can picture. Here they are in plain words.

Qubit

The building block of a quantum computer. A normal bit is always 0 or 1. A qubit can be a blend of the two.

Picture it: A light switch that can be partly on and partly off at once.

Superposition

The name for that blend. The qubit hasn’t settled on 0 or 1 yet.

Picture it: A coin spinning in the air: not heads, not tails, yet.

Measurement

Checking a qubit forces it to settle on 0 or 1. The blend decides how likely each answer is.

Picture it: Catching the coin. Now it’s one side, and it stays that way.

Entanglement

Two qubits linked so that checking one tells you about the other, however far apart they are.

Picture it: Two coins that always land matching, even in different cities.

An honest footnote: every everyday comparison breaks down somewhere. In the lessons, we show you exactly where.

Real or hype?

What’s real, what’s coming, what’s hype.

Quantum headlines are loud. Every lesson tells you plainly which bucket something is in.

Real

Works today

  • Small quantum computers you can try for free online
  • AI helping engineers fix errors in quantum machines
  • Quantum ideas that make normal computers smarter

Coming

Possible, not yet

  • Breaking the encryption that protects the internet today
  • Designing new medicines and materials much faster
  • Solving certain maths problems far quicker

Hype

Not any time soon

  • Quantum computers replacing your laptop
  • A “quantum AI” that’s smarter than today’s AI
  • Everyday products sold as “quantum-powered”

From the editor

A note before we start.

Saurabh

I teach AI at AI with Saurabh, starting from first principles and plain language. Quantum is next, and I’m learning it in public.

Every Qubits lesson is what I wish I’d had on day one: one idea, explained simply, with an honest note on what’s real. Start simple, build the intuition, then go deeper.

— Saurabh