Google is opening access to its next-generation Willow quantum processor.

The hyperscaler’s "Willow Early Access Program" will give select research partners exclusive use of its hardware, which is currently not available to the public.

Unveiled in December 2024, the chip features some 105 qubits, and according to Google, is capable of performing standard benchmark computation in a little under five minutes – a process that would take around 1,025 years on a conventional supercomputer.

Research groups have until May 15 to apply, with proposed experiments required to be specifically designed to run on the processor.

The hyperscaler is specifically looking for proposals to demonstrate research capable of transitioning from theory to physical hardware. Notable restrictions bar participants whose employer or academic institution is located in a handful of countries like China, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, and Belarus.

Applications will be judged on whether they would yield high-quality results on current Willow devices and whether implications of a successful run would lead to a “high-impact scientific result or … novel breakthrough technique.”

Interested parties can apply here.

Built at Google's own fabrication facility in Santa Barbara, California, Willow can retain an excitation (quantum speak for reliable enough to run complex algorithms) for nearly 100 microseconds, five-times better than its previous Sycamore hardware.

Willow’s performance boon stems from its ability to perform "below threshold" quantum calculations, meaning that when more qubits are added to a Willow-based quantum computer, error rates drop “exponentially.” Typically, the more qubits there are, the higher the error rates.

“You must demonstrate being below threshold to show real progress on error correction, and this has been an outstanding challenge since quantum error correction was introduced by Peter Shor in 1995,” Google researchers wrote upon unveiling Willow.