US weighs quantum computing boost in effort to counter China
The effort shows how far the administration is willing to take its mandate to combat the rise of geopolitical rivals such as the Asian nation
[NEW YORK] The Trump administration is in early-stage conversations with quantum computing companies to discuss potential financial support for an industry that’s part of the growing race with China for technology supremacy.
Commerce Department officials have discussed with industry executives the potential to use Chips Act money to back projects and companies it deems critical to national security, according to sources familiar with the matter. Conversations have not advanced beyond preliminary stages, said the sources, and discussion of any further details, such as financing or equity stakes, would be premature.
The government has indicated that it would seek something in exchange for any financial support, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. Without offering specifics, they pointed to the deal the administration reached with Intel giving the government a stake of 10 per cent in the chipmaker as a possible blueprint.
A Commerce Department spokesperson said the agency is not currently negotiating equity stakes with quantum computing companies. Spokespeople for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite being in the early stages, the talks signal that the government is keen to boost a nascent industry it sees as essential to maintaining American technology leadership in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI). The effort shows how far the administration is willing to take its mandate to combat the rise of geopolitical rivals such as China, where officials are pouring state resources into AI and quantum projects.
US officials have identified quantum computing as a national security priority, since achieving this level of computational power could allow adversaries such as China to break encryption of classified military intelligence, financial transactions and swaths of sensitive personal data.
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Quantum computers, which encode data in units called qubits, take advantage of subatomic oddities to generate potentially far more processing power than existing supercomputers. Alphabet’s Google, International Business Machines and other startups are among companies pursuing quantum computing, but the technology remains cost-prohibitive and predominantly used by researchers.
One key hurdle has been finding real-world applications. Google announced on Wednesday (Oct 22) that it had reached a breakthrough with its Willow quantum computing chip, running an algorithm that can outperform the world’s best supercomputers and be repeated on similar platforms.
Taken together, advances opened a path for potentially useful quantum applications in areas such as medicine and materials science within five years, Google said.
Shares of quantum companies have surged on investor interest in the emerging technology, with College Park, Maryland-based IonQ up roughly 300 per cent over the past year.
Earlier this month, IonQ raised US$2 billion in a sale of shares and pre-funded warrants to an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group. BLOOMBERG
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