SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 24 (Reuters) - IBM ( IBM ) said on

Friday it is able to run a key quantum computing algorithm on

commonly available chips from Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), in

a step toward commercializing super-powerful computers.

The U.S. stalwart is racing to develop quantum computing

against Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Alphabet's Google,

which announced a breakthrough algorithm this week.

Quantum computers use what are known as qubits to tackle

problems that would take conventional computers thousands of

years to crack - problems such as how trillions of atoms react

over time. However, qubits are prone to errors that can quickly

overwhelm the useful computing work of a quantum chip.

In June, IBM ( IBM ) said it had developed an algorithm to run

alongside quantum chips that can address such errors. In a

research paper seen by Reuters to be published Monday, IBM ( IBM ) will

show that it can run those algorithms in real time on a type of

chip called a field programmable gate array manufactured by AMD.

Jay Gambetta, the IBM ( IBM ) vice president running the firm's

quantum efforts, said the work showed that IBM's ( IBM ) algorithm not

only works in the real world, but can operate on a readily

available AMD chip that is not "ridiculously expensive."

"Implementing it, and showing that the implementation is

actually 10 times faster than what is needed, is a big deal,"

Gambetta said in an interview.

IBM ( IBM ) has a multi-year plan to build a quantum computer called

Starling by 2029. Gambetta said the algorithm work disclosed

Friday was completed a year ahead of schedule.