Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney delves into the potential impact of the Justice Department lawsuit against Google on its stock price during the "Varney & Co." segment. Google claims that its latest microchip, Willow, has achieved a significant milestone by solving a key quantum computing challenge, which even caught the attention of Elon Musk.

Google's Quantum Computing Breakthrough

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took to X on Monday to announce, "Introducing Willow, our new state-of-the-art quantum computing chip with a breakthrough that can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits, cracking a 30-year challenge in the field." In benchmark tests, Willow demonstrated remarkable performance by solving a standard computation in less than 5 minutes, a feat that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years - far beyond the age of the universe(!). This showcases the immense potential of quantum computing.Pichai further emphasized, "We see Willow as an important step in our journey to build a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, battery design, and more." Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was clearly impressed and responded with, "Wow." This sparked an exchange between the two, with Pichai writing back, "We should do a quantum cluster in space with Starship one day," accompanied by a smiley face. Musk replied, "That will probably happen. Any self-respecting civilization should at least reach Kardashev Type II. In my opinion, we are currently only at less than 5% of Type I. To get to ~30%, we would need to place solar panels in all desert or highly arid regions."

Alphabet's Stock Performance

As of now, Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG) has a stock price of 170.49 with a change of -0.33 and a change percentage of -0.19%. This shows the current market sentiment towards the company.

Quantum Computing and Tech Giants

Like other tech giants such as Microsoft and IBM, Google is actively pursuing quantum computing due to its promise of computing speeds far exceeding today's fastest systems. Willow, with its 105 qubits - the building blocks of quantum computers - holds great promise. However, as more qubits are packed onto a chip, errors can accumulate, making the chip similar to a conventional computer chip. Since the 1990s, scientists have been working on quantum error-correction to address this issue.Google's efforts in quantum computing are not only significant for the company itself but also have the potential to revolutionize various industries such as drug discovery, where faster computing could lead to breakthroughs in finding new medications. In fusion energy, quantum computing could help optimize the complex processes involved. Battery design also stands to benefit from the increased computational power offered by quantum computers.In conclusion, Google's quantum computing advancements, as represented by Willow, are attracting attention from both the business and scientific communities. The potential applications and implications of this technology are vast and could shape the future of various fields.