US summit on quantum industry highlights skills shortage

The quantum summit last week in the US included a roundtable discussion with representatives of the Executive Office of the President and leaders from quantum information technology companies. The roundtable focused on understanding the applications of quantum information science, the barriers for transitioning quantum R&D concepts into products or services in a global market, and the potential impact of quantum technologies on society.

Dr. Charles Tahan, Assistant Director for Quantum Information Science and Director of the National Quantum Coordination Office, highlighted the need for accelerating this technology while finding creative solutions and protecting the technology. A report from the White House Subcommittee on Economic and Security Implications of Quantum Science highlighted the vital role foreign talent and international cooperation plays in the US quantum ecosystem.

Presumably that refers to companies such as PsiQuantum, set up by Australian researcher Prof Jeremy O’Brien from the UK’s University of Bristol. The company has raised a total of $665m for its photonic quantum computer that will scale to millions of qubits. with a Series D round of $450m earlier this year. Intel, also present for the roundtable, works closely with the University of Delft in the Netherlands for its quantum technology

“It was very encouraging to see the U.S. government engaged in discussing the challenges and opportunities of quantum computing and the need to support the development and deployment of this extraordinary technology, which has the potential to revolutionize entire industries and spur innovation and economic growth across every major sector of the economy,” said Jeremy O’Brien, CEO and co-founder of PsiQuantum.

“Quantum computing is the most profoundly world-changing technology that humans have uncovered to date. The only question has been how to realize the hardware at the scale necessary to bring about these changes. The answer to that question has been slow in coming, due to unwarranted hope and enthusiasm for the small, noisy (NISQ) systems that are available today. It was extremely gratifying that at the White House event it was finally being acknowledged by tech giants and the US government that – so far as anyone on this planet knows today – we need a million qubits to do anything useful with a quantum computer,” he said. “Getting there in time to tackle some of our greatest challenges – including across climate, healthcare and energy – requires the sort of private-government partnerships that were discussed at the White House.”