Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to process vast amounts of information at incredibly high speeds. It takes anywhere from minutes to hours for a quantum computer to solve a desktop problem that would take years or decades.

Quantum computing paves the way for a new generation of supercomputers. These quantum computers are expected to outperform existing models, logistics, trend analysis, cryptography and artificial intelligence technology.

The idea of quantum computing was first conceived in the early 1980s by Richard Feynman and Yuri Manin. Feynman and Manin believed that a quantum computer could simulate data in ways that a desktop computer could not. It wasn't until the late 1990s that researchers built the first quantum computers.

The primary processing unit of quantum computing is quantum bits, often abbreviated as qubits. Qubits are created in the quantum computer using the quantum mechanical properties of single atoms, subatomic particles, or superconducting electrical circuits.