Quantum computers that are “practically useful” are 5-to-10 years away, Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said, comparing the groundbreaking technology to where artificial intelligence was about a decade ago.

QuEra Computing said on Tuesday the neutral-atom quantum firm has completed a funding round in excess of $230 million, with investment from Google's Quantum AI business unit and SoftBank Vision Fund,

Google claims quantum computing could see real-world applications within five years, sparking debate among experts worldwide.

Google and SoftBank’s Vision Fund are new investors in Inc., participating in a $230 million funding round for the Boston-based startup, which aims to make quantum computing more practical. QuEra Interim Chief Executive Officer Andy Ory said the latest funding round came together quickly — “in a matter of weeks” — after the startup cleared a series of technical challenges that spurred investors to approach him.

Quantum computing, long relegated to the realm of the theoretical, feels like it is back on the agenda as a potentially viable alternative to the

QuEra Computing, a Boston-based quantum computing company, has raised $230 million in a round led by Google (GOOGL) and SoftBank (SFTBF) ’s Vision Fund 2 to develop “fault-tolerant” quantum computers,