In its 2019 report to Congress, the Defense Department said, “In 2018, China continued to supplement indigenous military modernization efforts through the acquisition of foreign technologies and know-how. If China gains a substantial military quantum advantage over the United States, I believe it could neutralize many of our defensive and offensive technologies. So, why are the stakes so high? The answer is simple-not only will quantum computing offer significant scientific advances, but it will also alter warfighting. Without directly naming a country, it is evident that the government was talking about China. The race to conquer the quantum domain is among the most fiercely competitive in today's world of technology.” “A global race has ensued to exploit and operationalize quantum technologies for the use of military effects. The Department of the Army explained its appeal this way: In August last year, the Department of the Army issued a request for information on quantum technologies for Threat Military Applications. If the United States loses, the long-term effect will be chilling. Both countries are engaged in a no-holds-barred struggle to develop and deploy the most disruptive quantum warfighting technology in the world. It is an epic struggle between the world’s only superpower and the second-place power intent on replacing America as the world’s high-tech leader. Moreover, the critical ammunition for this battle is research funding. We are witnessing a quantum battle that will be fought in research labs by brains instead of guns, and by scientists instead of soldiers. The committee will meet at least twice a year to provide advice on our quantum activities.Ī few days after the executive order was signed, the Department of Energy announced $80 million in funding for quantum research.Īlthough these are positive actions, they are small compared to the enormous investments being made in quantum research by the Chinese. NQI funding will go to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Science Foundation (NSF) Multidisciplinary Centers for Quantum Research and Education and to the Department of Energy Research and National Quantum Information Science Research Centers.Īfter President Trump signed the NQI, he followed up with an executive order to establish a National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee composed of 22 experts from industry, research and federal agencies. The law authorizes $1.2 billion to be invested in quantum information science over five years. 6227 to fund the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQI). In December 2018, President Trump signed H.R. President Trump counter-punches China’s investment I think that the US retains a strong lead in quantum computation with other important centers being Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, Singapore, Israel." In an email to Moor Insights & Strategy, he said, "I think that China is ahead of the US right now in quantum communications, simply because they decided to invest a lot in that area while the US decided not to. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, and director of its Quantum Information Center. Google recently achieved quantum supremacy by solving a problem in 200 seconds that would take a classical computer 10,000 years to solve. ![]() Almost half of its patents were for leading-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. In 2018, IBM obtained more patents than any other U.S. However, thanks to investments by our tech giants- IBM, Google, and Microsoft-the United States has maintained its lead in quantum computing. This center may eventually become a global hub for quantum research and a magnet for future quantum research talent.Įxamine Chinese research output over the past two years, and you’ll see that President Xi’s quantum push is working. He also committed billions to establish a Chinese National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences. President Xi funded a multi-billion-dollar quantum computing mega-project with the expectation of achieving significant quantum breakthroughs by 2030. China total annual R&D expenditure (millions of dollars) OECD Science, Technology & R&D Statistics
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