Claude Cuts Quantum Circuit Resource Needs by an Order of Magnitude or More

Anthropic gave Claude Mythos 5 plain-language specifications for eight quantum circuits spanning chemistry, optimization, physics simulation, and number theory, along with an automated evaluator that checks correctness and assigns a score based on qubits used times gates. Claude then worked in a closed loop: proposing a circuit design, receiving the evaluator’s feedback and score, and revising its next attempt. Across all eight primitives, it produced novel designs that use fewer qubits and fewer gates than the best previously published algorithms, in some cases by an order of magnitude or more. The work was led by Andi Gu under Anthropic’s STEM Fellows Program, with mentorship from quantum physicist Alek Kemeny, in collaboration with Susanne Yelin and Mikhail Lukin at Harvard.