President's Commentary: Earning Our Quantum Leadership

Quantum technology has inched forward for years, but by some measures, the recent pace has shifted from steady progress to a near sprint. 

Take Google’s Willow processor. Engineers reported in late 2024 that Willow could perform a random control sampling in minutes that would take classical supercomputers roughly 10 septillion years—that’s a one with 25 zeros. Google combined that accomplishment with lower error rates even as qubit counts rise. And in February of last year, Microsoft unveiled Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum processing unit powered by a Topological Core designed to scale to one million qubits on a single chip. That achievement demonstrated “the ability to harness a new type of material and engineer a radically different type of qubit that is small, fast, and digitally controlled,” Microsoft said.

China, meanwhile, has developed the Tianyan504 system, which crossed the 500 qubit mark. Beijing folds such milestones into a broader long-term plan. Analysts with the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission reported that China’s tight control of research has given it an early edge in quantum communications. It’s not just about one chip or one lab; it’s about a machine built to keep producing momentum. 

The European Union, meanwhile, has established the Quantum Technologies Flagship initiative to develop a European quantum web that connects quantum computers, sensors and simulators. 

The United States still drives a wide span of quantum innovation, even if it doesn’t always match China’s speed in fielding large-scale systems. The commission noted that America still leads the world in most quantum research, but China has deployed industrial-scale funding and centralized coordination to seize dominance in quantum systems. “In this domain, whoever gets there first could lock in irreversible strategic superiority—especially considering how exposed today’s global infrastructure remains to attacks on public key encryption systems,” the commission wrote.

The security picture grows more complicated from there. Once quantum machines can break current encryption standards, everything that was intercepted beforehand suddenly becomes easily accessible. And multiple actors already harvest encrypted data purely on speculation that it will be useful later. It’s the digital equivalent of storing documents in lockboxes and waiting for the right key to open them. 

For the United States, the challenge—and opportunity—lie in doubling down on our existing strengths. Unlike China’s centralized approach, the American model depends on a loose constellation of national labs, universities, startups, prime contractors and federal agencies. That structure can feel—and sometimes be—chaotic. But it’s also the reason the country continually produces breakthroughs across multiple quantum disciplines, from materials research to algorithm design.

U.S. partners and allies offer an oft-overlooked advantage. Only a handful of countries can build or operate meaningful quantum systems, and several of them—notably the United Kingdom, Canada and partners in Europe and the Indo-Pacific—are tightly linked to the U.S. defense and research ecosystem. This small group is central to the future quantum supply chain and technology standards. These alliances will matter more as the field matures because it is likely that no nation on its own can secure quantum-resilient infrastructure or develop next-generation sensing systems. 

The bigger picture here is that quantum is no longer an abstract science project. It’s quickly becoming a factor in encryption policy, intelligence tradecraft, logistics planning, and even the credibility of deterrence. If quantum computers eventually make it possible to break today’s cryptography, the balance of power will not subtly shift. It will lurch.

We need to move with intent. That means stable federal investment, strong public-private partnerships, faster transitions from research to fielding, a workforce that isn’t constantly playing catchup and protecting the intellectual property that underpins the breakthroughs we achieve. It also means working with allies is essential to maintain our quantum edge.

If there’s one lesson from the last few years, it’s that quantum leadership is not given; it is earned through investment, cooperation and partnerships.