Nord Quantique has announced what it calls a breakthrough in quantum physics that will make quantum error correction a bit better. Errors are the top obstacle today preventing the industry from having usable quantum computers, since the individual qubits are prone to mistakes and degradation.
Typically, quantum computing companies address the error problem with redundancy. They add extra qubits to compensate for those that go off the rails. The problem is that the more qubits, the faster the errors multiply, and the more additional qubits the computer needs to compensate for.
Getting to a point where adding new qubits lowers the error rate is the break-even point, what some experts call the “escape velocity” for quantum computing. Several companies have claimed to reach this point, though, without seeing them build large-scale quantum computers there’s no way to really know for sure.