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🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | Quantum First. Quantum Faults. And More News in Quantum

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FROM THE EDITOR.

As the U.S. heads into a week traditionally set aside for gratitude, the nation’s quantum community has a new item to add to the list: growing federal attention to quantum technology.

That shift in mood this week comes as several high-level signals suggest Washington is inching toward a more assertive quantum posture. The U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, for instance, released a sweeping assessment that urged a “quantum first” strategy. The report does not hedge at all. It is calling for nothing less than dramatically higher federal investment and warning that the current funding levels are out of step with both national ambitions and global competition.

That message echoed on Capitol Hill last week, where IonQ CEO Niccolò de Masi appeared as the sole industry expert before the Joint Economic Committee. Lawmakers pressed him on whether quantum technology was close enough to practical use to merit new public spending. De Masi didn’t hedge either. Quantum, he said, is not a distant research project — it is already entering commercial markets in early but meaningful ways, with companies applying today’s systems to optimization, logistics and materials problems.

In this notch in the calendar when we’re called to focus gratitude, these voices offer us reason to be thankful — and hopeful that in the important next few years that more federal dollars will help stabilize early-stage research, accelerate workforce development and reduce bottlenecks in bringing quantum technology, in all its forms, to market.

Have a great weekend!

— Matt, Chief Content Officer at The Quantum Insider

Driving Prosperity through Innovation - World Strategic Forum 2025

Join global leaders and innovators at the World Strategic Forum 2025, November 24–25 at the Loews Coral Gables Hotel, Miami. Explore the latest in quantum technologies, fintech, infrastructure, and global trade, with thought leaders like Matthew Cimaglia (Quantum Coast Capital) and Niccolo de Masi (IonQ).

Don’t miss “Decoding Quantum: A Conversation on the Next Tech Revolution” â€” a deep dive into how quantum computing is transforming industries from logistics to finance.

Secure your spot today and connect with the minds shaping tomorrow: worldstrategicforum.com

INSIDER BRIEF.

ANALYST NOTES.

The Noteworthy & Nuanced

AQT has made its trapped-ion quantum computer, IBEX Q1, accessible through Amazon Braket, giving global users on-demand or reserved cloud access to European quantum hardware. The system preserves EU data residency while offering a fully connected architecture with low error rates suited for chemistry, optimization, risk modeling, and quantum security research. The integration expands AWS’s quantum options and strengthens support for European sovereignty.

A new arXiv study introduces quantum integrated sensing and communication (QISAC), showing that a single quantum system can simultaneously transmit information and measure its environment. By using entanglement and variational training techniques, the researchers demonstrate a tunable trade-off between communication rate and sensing precision. The work suggests future applications in quantum networks and multifunctional sensing systems, though the results are currently based on simulations.

Classiq, BQP, and NVIDIA have demonstrated a hybrid quantum-classical workflow that advances digital twin and CFD simulations using the Variational Quantum Linear Solver (VQLS) on NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q platform. BQP employed Classiq’s automated circuit synthesis to create optimized VQLS circuits with fewer qubits, smaller circuit depth, and reduced trainable parameters, improving scalability for engineering workloads. — Alan Kanapin, Analyst at The Quantum Insider

The Research Rundown

Check out this week’s handpicked quantum research. These are studies headed for real-world impact: improving accuracy, reducing latency, using fewer resources, or solving problems that classical methods struggle with. These are early developments, but they hint at where quantum might earn its keep.

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INSIDER SPOTLIGHT: U.S. Commission on China Calls for ‘Quantum First’ National Goal by 2030

➡️ U.S. advisers are urging Congress to adopt a “Quantum First” national goal by 2030, arguing that the next five to seven years will determine long-term leadership in quantum computing, communications and post-quantum security.
➡️ The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says quantum has shifted from long-term research to a near-term strategic race, with early advantage likely to influence cryptography, drug discovery and materials science.
➡️ The panel recommended major investments in scalable quantum hardware, secure communications, modernized labs and a national migration to post-quantum cryptography.
➡️ A proposed Quantum Software Engineering Institute would coordinate work on compilers, operating systems, error-handling tools and open-source standards needed for early applications.
➡️ China’s growing state-backed quantum program — spanning satellites, manufacturing, research centers and industrial planning — underscores what the commission calls a tightening race with national security implications.
➡️ While the recommendations carry momentum, turning them into law will require sustained congressional cooperation, multi-year funding and significant new infrastructure — none of which are guaranteed.

Analyst Commentary

Washington’s quantum debate took on new urgency with the commission’s recommendation that Congress adopt a national “Quantum First” objective by 2030 — a shift that elevates quantum from a research program to a national capability tied directly to economic security and geopolitical competition. It reflects a growing view inside the U.S. quantum community that the country’s long-running reliance on private-sector investment is not enough against China’s coordinated, state-scale efforts.

But while the warning is sharp, the path forward is not automatic. Congressional recognition and congressional action are two different things. The commission’s plan sketches the most ambitious federal quantum framework ever proposed, yet nothing moves until lawmakers align funding, authorities and priorities across a fragmented landscape.

For now, the attention alone marks a change. The quantum ecosystem has spent years calling for broader federal involvement, and this report signals that Washington is finally listening — if not yet legislating.

Quantum as a National Capability

The report presents quantum as a real-world, strategic technology — not just a lab-based scientific discipline. It identifies three mission areas — cryptography, drug discovery and materials science — where early advantage could generate intelligence, medical or industrial breakthroughs. These domains are where hybrid quantum-classical systems are most likely to deliver useful results before fully fault-tolerant machines arrive.

The commission argues that the U.S. must build the physical infrastructure to match its research credentials. Many cryogenic labs, fabrication lines and measurement facilities are aging or insufficient for the next phase of systems development. Without updated facilities, the report warns, breakthroughs cannot turn into practical systems.

A substantial expansion of federal funding is recommended, linked to long-term workforce investments, new fellowship programs, standardized curricula and talent partnerships with allied nations. The panel says that these steps are essential to sustain a pipeline of quantum engineers and system builders.

Software as the Bottleneck

Beyond hardware, the commission highlights a less visible but equally critical gap: software. The report calls for the creation of a Quantum Software Engineering Institute to coordinate national work on compilers, operating systems, error-handling tools and application libraries.

The panel’s conclusion is blunt: hardware progress will not translate into advantage unless the U.S. develops a dependable, interoperable software stack for scientific, industrial and defense applications. This is in complete alignment with industry sentiment.

A national software institute would also oversee open-source foundations and security testing. These are guardrails increasingly important as adversaries pursue quantum capabilities of their own.

China’s Acceleration and Strategic Stakes

As you might expect from a group focused on US-China relations, the commission’s strongest language centers on China, which it describes as mobilizing state-scale resources across manufacturing, satellites, standards development and quantum information science. Analysts say Beijing’s strategic sectors continue to receive deep investment even as the broader economy slows, and quantum sits squarely within this priority group.

But, again and again, we find evidence of China’s advances — or the lack thereof — remain obscured. The report, for instance, raises concerns that China may be concealing the status of its most advanced quantum projects. Just as likely, the nation may exaggerate advances that really aren’t there.

Whatever China’s current state of quantum advancement truly is, the panel concludes that China views quantum as part of its broader industrial and military strategy — making the timeline for U.S. action even tighter.

A Long Way Left

Generalizing AC/DC, it is both a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll — and if you want to turn legislation into action.

Here’s how this steep climb might look: If Congress embraces the recommendations, the next phase of U.S. quantum policy could resemble a CHIPS-style national initiative, with expanded manufacturing capacity, coordinated public-private partnerships and procurement programs designed to give early quantum systems real mission use.

But there are significant hurdles. Multi-year funding is uncertain amid competing demands across AI, semiconductors, defense modernization and basic research. Quantum programs are scattered across agencies with different authorities and priorities, complicating the consolidation needed to support a unified national goal.

Infrastructure gaps — from cryogenic labs to fabrication lines — will require years of investment. The talent pipeline also lags the scale of the challenge; U.S. training programs largely reward academic paths over engineering and manufacturing roles critical to deployment.

Allied cooperation remains essential, but differences on standards, export controls and industrial policy may slow joint development.

The U.S. quantum community has long asked for more federal muscle behind quantum technology. Attention is finally shifting their way. But attention is not appropriation, strategy or implementation — and until those align, a “Quantum First” policy remains more aspiration than outcome.

DATA SPOTLIGHT.

PacketLight Networks and NEC demonstrated quantum key distribution over a 400G dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network using a dual-fiber setup. They integrated NEC’s QKD system with PacketLight’s PL-4000M 600G Muxponder, achieving 100% data throughput and low latency, verified via a 100GbE tester. The QKD ran over a dedicated parallel fiber, maintaining quantum signal integrity. The result: a cost-effective, scalable quantum-safe model with zero performance tradeoffs on existing high-capacity infrastructure.

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS.

🇺🇸 The Pentagon has elevated quantum technology to a core pillar of U.S. military strategy, naming “Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance” as one of six Critical Technology Areas essential to future warfighting. The new priority centers on resilient quantum-based communications and navigation systems that can withstand jamming and electronic attack.

📜 A new report concludes that real-time quantum error correction has become the defining requirement for utility-scale quantum computing, driven by rapid technical progress, surging investment, and an escalating global talent shortage. The report warns that fast hardware-level decoders and limited QEC expertise are now the industry’s most urgent bottlenecks.

🌐 Roadrunner Venture Studios and Qunnect have launched ABQ-Net, New Mexico’s first entanglement-based quantum network and the nation’s first open-access, full-stack quantum networking testbed.

🤝 The U.S. Department of Energy, Fermilab, and Qblox have partnered to manufacture and distribute Fermilab’s open-source Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK) in the United States, strengthening domestic quantum computing, sensing, and networking capabilities.

💰️ YQuantum has secured CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to advance and commercialize its miniaturized cryogenic hardware, designed to make superconducting and spin-qubit quantum processors more scalable and practical.

🖥️ Classiq, BQP, and NVIDIA jointly demonstrated a hybrid quantum-classical workflow that applies optimized VQLS circuits to advance digital twin and CFD simulations. The approach reduces qubit counts and circuit complexity while integrating into existing HPC environments.

🌍️ The Africa Quantum Consortium has launched Hack the Horizon, a continent-wide quantum challenge designed to mobilize Africa’s sovereign quantum ecosystem by connecting researchers, developers, industry leaders, and the African diaspora.

⛓️ IBM and Cisco plan to jointly develop the foundations of networked distributed quantum computing, aiming for a proof-of-concept by 2030 that links large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers into a single computational network.

💵 QSimulate has raised its total seed funding to more than $11 million and released QUELO v2.3, a major upgrade to its quantum-powered drug discovery platform that now supports enhanced sampling and larger, peptide-scale molecules.

💸 Connecticut is investing $121 million in QuantumCT to accelerate quantum technology development, workforce training, and commercialization, including launching a New Haven quantum incubator with labs, engineering facilities, and testbeds.

🔒️ SEALSQ and Quobly have launched a partnership to combine post-quantum secure semiconductor hardware with Quobly’s CMOS-compatible silicon spin qubit platform, aiming to define quantum-secure architectures for future large-scale quantum computers.

👩‍💻 A team of public-interest technologists just announced that the Mozilla Foundation has joined the Unitary Foundation as a Supporting Member, forming a partnership to ensure openness and community stewardship are built into quantum technologies from the start. Together, they will explore public-interest frameworks for quantum systems and co-host a 2026 Open Source Fellow to strengthen the quantum open-source ecosystem.

EVENTS.

Nov. 15- 18 -- BIG Quantum Hackathon, Qatar 2025, Minaretein, Education City,. Doha, Qatar.

Nov. 16-21 -- SuperComputing 2025 (SC25) will be held n St. Louis, USA. SC25 is an international conference for high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis.

Nov. 24-25 -- World Strategic Forum is an international conference organized by the International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA). The 14th edition of the World Strategic Forum will be held at the Loews Coral Gables Hotel in Miami, Florida, presented by Integra Capital.

Dec. 1-4 -- QUEST-IS 2025 Quantum Engineering Sciences and Technologies for Industry and Services From Quantum Engineering to Applications for Citizens. EDF Lab, Paris-Saclay, France.

Dec. 3-5 -- Quantum Education Summit 2025 will advance accessible, inclusive quantum education through keynotes, workshops, and a collaborative white paper on workforce development and policy alignment.

Dec. 9-11 -- Q2B 2025 Silicon Valley Q2B is back for the eighth year in a row, connecting the international quantum community computing ecosystems. The event will feature top academics, industry end users, government representatives and quantum computing vendors from all over the world.

Dec. 17-18 -- Science Diplomacy - Bridging divides in a fragmented world will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference explores how science diplomacy can bridge divides and promote innovation, competitiveness, and international cooperation.

January 27 and 28, 2026 -- Qubits 2026 D-Wave is bringing its annual user conference, Qubits, to Boca Raton, Florida. The event will be held at The Boca Raton resort.

April 27-30 -- The Quantum Matter International Conference & Expo (QUANTUMatter2026) will take place at the BarcelĂł Sants Hotel in Barcelona. The conference to foster the incubation of new ideas & collaborations at the forefront of quantum technologies, emerging quantum materials and novel generations of quantum communication protocols, quantum sensing and quantum simulation.

June 22-24 -- IQT Nordics: Oslo, Norway

June 24-26 -- Quantum. Tech World: Boston, Mass