Hartmut Neven
Google Quantum AI
Quantum Consciousness depends on physics classical computers do not reproduce
Dr. Hartmut Neven is a German-American physicist, computer scientist, and the founder and leader of Google Quantum AI. His team achieved the landmark demonstration of quantum supremacy in 2019 using the Sycamore processor, and subsequently demonstrated the first experimentally testable error-corrected quantum circuit in 2023.
At the Consciousness Science 2026 (CS26) conference in San Diego, Neven appears alongside Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff to discuss quantum approaches to consciousness. His work bridges quantum information theory, many-worlds interpretations, and the Orch-OR framework, exploring whether quantum coherence in biological systems may be relevant to understanding conscious experience.
Neven previously served as a professor of physics, computer science, and neuroscience at the University of Southern California and was a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Cologne and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Known for. Leading Google Quantum AI, quantum error correction, quantum approaches to consciousness
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Hartmut Neven is listed with the other quantum theorists, who hold that consciousness depends on physics classical computers do not reproduce. The theory family behind that position is set out in the index of consciousness theories. Every researcher covered on this site is indexed in the directory of consciousness researchers.