But is this really the best way to multiply two big numbers together? In long multiplication, we have to multiply every digit of the first number by every digit of the second number.

To multiply two numbers by hand take a few steps but it’s something we’re taught in school. When dealing with big numbers, really big numbers, we need to a quicker way to do things.

Matrix multiplication - where two grids of numbers are multiplied together - forms the basis of many computing tasks, and an improved technique discovered by an artificial intelligence could boost ...