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President Trump has signed two executive orders to accelerate quantum computing research and protect government systems from the cyber threats the technology could unleash.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, quantum computing is a totally different way of building a computer that can solve certain problems way faster than any machine we have today. A regular computer thinks in bits, tiny switches that are either a 1 or a 0, on or off, and it works through problems one step at a time. A quantum computer uses “qubits,” which can be a 1, a 0, or both at once, thanks to a weird rule of physics called superposition. Think of a regular computer trying every path through a maze one at a time until it finds the exit, while a quantum computer explores a huge number of those paths all at once. That ability to crunch a massive number of possibilities at the same time is what makes it so powerful, and it’s also why it’s scary for security, because the codes that protect your bank account and basically everything online were built to stop normal computers, and a strong enough quantum machine could rip through them.
What’s going on now: Signing the orders Monday in the Oval Office, Trump cast them as a “big step forward” in the race against China, saying, “We’re going to be investing in American quantum leadership like never before.” The first launches a national push to build a quantum computer powerful enough for scientific research, with officials hoping it could be done by 2028, plus quantum-enabled sensors and networks within five years. The second directs federal agencies to migrate to post-quantum cryptography by around 2031.
The first order also aims to shore up domestic supply chains for quantum materials, expand the workforce through apprenticeships and new training institutes, and tighten protections on critical technology against adversaries. Officials framed it as a way to keep the US ahead in a field that could ripple into AI, materials science, drug discovery and energy.
The moves follow a recent push of federal money into the sector, with the Commerce Department dropping $2 billion into equity stakes in nine different quantum firms, one of them a new IBM venture. Trump was flanked at the signing by tech leaders, among them the heads of Google and IBM, though a White House official said no specific firms would be prioritized as a result of the orders.
