After AI, It Seems Quantum Computing Is Next

This episode follows a thread that started the previous day with AI and OpenAI's "Astra" model — and then expands, after two news items caught attention: RIKEN and Fujitsu's quantum computer development in Japan, and Ireland's push to position itself as a hub for quantum technology.It touches on what makes Ireland an interesting case here — already home to the European bases of Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and Intel, the country is now betting that quantum will follow a similar pattern, and has begun investing accordingly.There's also a clear-eyed distinction drawn between AI and quantum computing — not rivals, but tools with different strengths. AI for reasoning and language; quantum computing for calculation at a scale where the number of combinations would overwhelm today's machines. Drug discovery, new materials, logistics, financial risk — that's the territory.The RIKEN-Fujitsu timeline gets a quiet moment too: 64 qubits in 2023, 256 by 2025 — a detail that reframes quantum computing as something already in motion, not waiting in the distance.A reflection on how technological shifts tend to arrive — not gradually, but in a way where one day the preparation has already begun, and waiting until something is finished before engaging with it may already be too late.