The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a significant $65m investment in quantum computing research, funding ten projects with a total of 38 separate awards.
These projects aim to advance the capabilities of quantum computing, a technology with the potential to revolutionise problem-solving in modern science by overcoming the limitations of classical computing.
By leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, quantum computers are expected to solve large, complex scientific challenges more quickly and efficiently than traditional computers.
Ceren Susut, DOE Associate Director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research, emphasised the transformative potential of this technology: “With these awards, we are equipping scientists with computational tools that will open new frontiers of scientific discovery.
“Quantum computers may ultimately revolutionise many fields by solving problems that are currently out of reach.”
Focus on software and control systems
This $65m investment will primarily target software, control systems, and algorithmic advancements, which are critical to demonstrating the practical utility of quantum computing for scientific research.
The funded projects will focus on improving the entire software stack, from programming tools to control systems that can manage quantum systems at scale.
Key areas of research include the development of quantum algorithms that offer error detection, prevention, and correction, ensuring the resilience and performance of quantum systems.
By creating robust software ecosystems, researchers aim to achieve modularity, interoperability, and specialisation in quantum computing applications.
Quantum computing research and the National Quantum Initiative
The U.S. Congress passed the National Quantum Initiative Act in December 2018, recognising the vast potential of Quantum Information Science (QIS) and the need to stay ahead of international competition in this field.
The DOE’s Office of Science is a major partner in this initiative, launching a range of research programmes that address various aspects of QIS.
These quantum computing research projects span from single-discipline investigations to large, integrated centres dedicated to exploring the potential of the technology.
The goal is to ensure that the United States maintains its leadership in quantum computing research while also advancing scientific discovery in fields like energy, materials science, and medicine.
The total funding for these projects amounts to $65m over a five-year period, with $14m allocated for Fiscal Year 2024.
Further funding will depend on future congressional appropriations. This investment underscores the nation’s commitment to advancing quantum computing research and ensuring it remains at the forefront of this groundbreaking technology.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has made a groundbreaking advancement in quantum error correction, a critical solution for the practical application of quantum computing.
Led by Dr Seung-Woo Lee, the KIST team has developed a world-class quantum error correction technology that significantly outperforms previous efforts, marking a major leap forward in the global race for quantum supremacy.
This breakthrough not only sets new global standards but also places South Korea at the forefront of quantum technology development, offering the potential to revolutionise the future of computing.
Quantum error correction: A necessity for scaling quantum computers
Qubits, the fundamental units of quantum computing, are notoriously prone to errors due to their sensitivity to environmental interference.
As quantum systems grow in size and complexity, error rates increase exponentially, making complex computations unfeasible.
Quantum error correction offers a path to address these errors by ensuring that, even as systems scale up, the accuracy of calculations remains intact. Without it, achieving the full potential of quantum computing would be impossible.
With the global race to lead the quantum revolution intensifying, many leading research institutions and corporations are prioritising the development of robust quantum error correction systems.
It is through these advancements that quantum computers may one day perform tasks far beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers.
KIST’s quantum breakthrough
The KIST research team has achieved a significant milestone in quantum error correction. Their newly developed technology not only outpaces previous efforts but sets a new global standard.
By creating a fault-tolerant quantum computing architecture, KIST has demonstrated that its technology can outperform even PsiQuantum—a global leader in the field.
PsiQuantum, known for its photon-based quantum computing systems, has set a photon loss threshold of 2.7% in its quantum architecture.
This threshold refers to the system’s ability to tolerate photon loss while still maintaining error correction capabilities.
Moreover, KIST’s method is significantly more resource-efficient, making it a viable and competitive alternative to other leading technologies.
Global implications
This breakthrough is not only a technological achievement for KIST but also a significant milestone for South Korea.
Historically seen as a latecomer in the quantum computing arena, Korea’s leap forward demonstrates its potential to rival and perhaps surpass global leaders in quantum technology.
The development of this advanced quantum error correction technology places Korea on the map as a serious contender in the international quantum race.
Quantum error correction is not only vital for photon-based qubits but is equally important across other quantum systems, such as superconducting qubits, ion traps, and neutral atoms.
This versatility underscores the importance of KIST’s research and positions the country as a future leader in building an independent, world-class quantum computing ecosystem.
The future of quantum computing
Dr Seung-Woo Lee highlighted the importance of error correction in the evolution of quantum computing: “Just like semiconductor chip design technology, designing fault-tolerant architecture is critical for quantum computing.”
His statement underscores that without quantum error correction, even systems with thousands of physical qubits would struggle to perform logical quantum tasks effectively.
While the practical realisation of quantum computing is still some years away, KIST’s advancements bring that future closer. This breakthrough in quantum error correction provides the foundation upon which more complex and reliable quantum systems can be built.
If a small quantum computer makes a small number of errors, will a large quantum computer make even more errors, making it completely useless? No, say researchers at Google who have made a key breakthrough in error correction for quantum devices, setting out a theoretical path to creating machines that are useful and practical.
Ordinary computers store data as bits that are either a 0 or 1, but errors can cause the bit to “flip” to the wrong value, which is why devices from smartphones to supercomputers have built-in error correction.…
Quantum Generative Materials, LLC (GenMat™) is a materials science company working to expand the boundaries of human capabilities through the application of fundamentally new understandings of material properties at the quantum level.
GenMat stands at the forefront of an emerging materials science revolution, pioneering solutions with immediate transformative applications in energy, electronics, and space-based sensing. Our approach synergises artificial intelligence (AI), classical machine learning, quantum simulation, and high-fidelity quantum chemical data sets to accelerate breakthroughs in materials science.
Throughout history, the discovery of new materials has been the cornerstone of technological progress, defining entire epochs: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Silicon Age. Where past discoveries were often serendipitous, GenMat plans to shift the paradigm to the intentional design of revolutionary materials.
GenMat’s inception came from the realisation that by harnessing cutting-edge machine learning and early quantum computing capabilities, there was an opportunity to engineer materials that would fundamentally disrupt global markets.
Our innovations yield tangible results of actionable inference from optimised catalyst designs, advanced hyperspectral sensing technologies, predictive modelling, and the creation of novel materials from ideal structures. These advancements herald a new era of transformational breakthroughs in critical sectors such as energy storage, photovoltaics, superconductivity, and beyond.
Quantum-enabled materials simulation
GenMat tackles the immense complexity of quantum-level material property computation head-on. In traditional approaches, computing the state of electron entanglement alone is a 2N problem before factors such as spin, kinetic energy, and potential energy are calculated. Direct simulation of quantum properties becomes infeasible on the most powerful classical computational platforms, even with small atomic systems. GenMat identified this problem and has worked tirelessly to overcome it.
Our proprietary approach fuses classical computational chemistry, including density functional theory (DFT) and post-DFT methods, with advanced machine learning and quantum computing. This synergy maximises the value gained from each field, creating a robust network of algorithms and datasets that continuously evolve and improve. We offer our expertise in DFT, simulation, and machine learning as consulting services to clients to drive innovation across industries.
GenMat’s efforts can be reduced to three incremental phases of work and their associated products:
Characterisation of existing materials to generate comprehensive datasets, deriving crucial insights from advanced sensors;
Optimisation of these known materials to improve their performance; and
Generation of novel material structures tailored to specific requirements. This methodology is already yielding results, such as our work on an optimised photocatalyst poised to significantly reduce humanity’s carbon footprint.
GenMat’s ability to characterise existing materials sets the foundation for meaningful applications of machine learning in materials science. Our pioneering integration of computational chemistry and machine learning methodologies enables a deep understanding of material properties, advanced simulation capabilities, and optimisation of device design and material behaviours.
While valuable on their own, our characterisation capabilities primarily serve as the basis for the generation of new material configurations. By initially focusing on optimising known materials, we confine the search space and transform an enormously complex problem into an achievable goal at the forefront of current technology. For example, GenMat is working to enhance the efficiency of a photocatalyst that converts CO2, water, and sunlight into usable hydrocarbon reserves, which represents a crucial step toward a carbon-neutral future.
Our iterative optimisation of existing material is also a learning process wherein GenMat’s team of scientists and engineers continuously refines models for specific material classes. The goal is the computational discovery of fundamentally new materials precisely tuned to client and industry needs. This capability will drive innovation in many sectors, such as semiconductors, energy storage, superconductors, and aerospace materials.
Material characterisation and remote sensing
The compute-to-synthesis pipeline and dataset for achieving GenMat’s roadmap is built on a foundation of precise material property understanding and cutting-edge experimental measurement methodologies. This advanced system ingests complex sensor data, employs sophisticated algorithms to infer material characteristics, and generates inferences about the characteristics of the materials imaged by the sensor. This computational tool, originally built to measure emissive properties via microscopic imaging tools, can be tuned to make directly actionable inferences about the material properties of images taken from a wide range of operational sensors, dramatically expanding their application scope.
Recognising the critical role of rare earth minerals in advanced material development, GenMat launched its first satellite, GENMAT-1, with the intent of making detailed inferences about material characteristics for dramatically increasing the efficiency of mineral discovery. GENMAT-1 is equipped with a hyperspectral imager capable of 5m-per-pixel resolution in the 450nm to 900nm spectral range. This creates the opportunity to conduct highly-focused experimentation, validation, and exploration in areas where mining rights are already secured for optimal product development and maturation.
Our innovative use of hyperspectral data, combined with advanced DFT and post-DFT methods, is opening new frontiers in material analysis. This technology has far-reaching implications beyond mining, including structural composition analysis, anti-spoofing applications, and ionisation detection. These capabilities position GenMat at the vanguard of space-based sensing technology, with potential applications across multiple sectors.
Material optimisation and generative capabilities
In the face of global climate challenges, GenMat understands the urgent need for sustainable energy without compromising economic stability. Recognising that the world’s reliance on fossil fuels cannot be immediately eliminated, despite rapid advancements in green energy, we have focused our efforts on mitigating the environmental impact of hydrocarbon extraction and usage.
Our flagship project in this arena is the development and optimisation of an advanced photocatalyst that transforms CO2, water, and sunlight into usable hydrocarbons, effectively closing the carbon cycle. Our photocatalysts demonstrate an efficiency in CO2 conversion that is 3.8 times greater than that of an average forest. To put this into perspective, a single square kilometre of our material can generate 15 million cubic metres of usable natural gas annually. This remarkable capability not only represents a significant leap in environmental technology but also holds substantial implications for the global hydrocarbon industry. Driven by these promising results, GenMat is committed to further enhancing the photoconversion efficiency of this groundbreaking material.
The challenge of increasing photoconversion efficiency exemplifies the complex interplay between artificial intelligence and materials science that defines GenMat’s methodology. While it represents a well-defined optimisation problem, it also showcases the immense potential of AI in pushing the boundaries of material discovery. Our progress to date in characterising and predicting existing material properties provides a compelling basis for the work. The creation and scaling of such a photocatalyst could reduce global reliance on new drilling. When coupled with established gas-to-liquid processes, this innovation could provide a sustainable source for systems currently dependent on jet fuel, gasoline, and other petroleum products.
Moving forward
GenMat is laying the foundation for the company’s unique Artificial General Physics Intelligence (AGPI™) – building and applying physics-based AI to materials discovery and remote sensing. With this outlook, advanced photocatalysts can initially be classified as both materials and devices. However, it is not only about discovering new materials; it is also about developing a body of knowledge for practical application of what can be learned, ultimately making technology indistinguishable from nature.
The United Nations has just proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Here, Paul Smith from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics asks what it will take to bring the long-promised quantum technology revolution to fruition.
Quantum science will change the world. This is no exaggeration – it is happening. But where it will happen remains an open question. One thing, however, is clear: It will be where leaders make it a priority. Good things happen to those who commit. Canada, among other countries, has taken the first steps in this direction, but seeing it to fruition will be a big challenge.
The International Year of Quantum Science and Technology
It is safe to say that the whole world knows the quantum revolution is coming. The United Nations (UN) just declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. It will be a celebration of the progress scientists and innovators have made in the last century, from Schrödinger’s cat to the invention of the laser, the LED, the solar cell, the MRI, and more. But it will also be a call to action: to bring about new communications techniques, cybersecurity protocols, powerful computers, and advances in material science. All of it is at humanity’s fingertips, and the UN has aptly observed that we will need it to reach a sustainable future.
However, this is easier said than done. This will take investment. It will take passion. It will take a thriving knowledge economy, and a society that values fundamental research. It will take a commitment to laying the groundwork today, for tomorrow’s benefit. Canada could do all these things. We know it can, because it’s already started.
Canada’s role in the quantum revolution
At Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, we have an insider’s view of this process in action. Perimeter researchers are, amongst other things, actively exploring ways to improve quantum error correction (how to keep quantum computers from making mistakes). This is one of the key barriers to a full-blown quantum computing free-for-all. At the same time, we are pioneering new quantum materials, where unusual phase transitions occur – like water to ice – but with magnetism and quantum states. Quantum physicists are devising materials that act like a single atom on a macroscopic scale. They are creating matter with emergent properties, where the whole material demonstrates behaviours that the constituent particles within do not show on their own. In these magnificent materials, the sum is literally greater than its parts.
The world of quantum physics sounds a lot like science fiction. It produces concepts with names like ‘quantum spin liquids’ and ‘time crystals.’ It promises to do calculations 100 million times faster than a supercomputer. It doesn’t sound real, but it is and it’s incredible.
Some of those breakthroughs in theoretical science become experimentally testable, at places like the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing, just down the road from Perimeter.
Those successful experiments can become commercially viable and enter our lives through innovative quantum computing companies like Toronto’s Xanadu, Vancouver’s Photonic, or Nord Quantique in Sherbrooke, to name just a few. It’s a pipeline: from theory, to experiment, to reality. We must invest in all three to make progress. There is no getting around any of these steps.
International investment in quantum computing
Other countries also recognise the importance of this investment process.
China has, to date, put $15.3bn in public investments into quantum research. The EU has put in more than $7bn. The United States has put in nearly $2bn.
Canada hasn’t been left behind. In fact, it punched above its weight by investing more than $1bn over the last decade, and launching a National Quantum Strategy in 2023. That was a promising sign.
What’s next for quantum science and technology?
If you’re not yet convinced that quantum research should be a priority, remember that humanity has seen the fundamental research pipeline change the world before. One example is the research at the famous Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1947 which led to the development of the transistor. That breakthrough paved the way for the microchip now inside every computer, smartphone, and electronic device you’ve ever encountered. It has connected the world like never before and underpins the enormous growth of today’s biggest tech successes like Nvidia, whose chips are powering the Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom.
There’s no reason to believe that today’s quantum research pipeline won’t do something similar. New insights into quantum entanglement in the second half of last century kicked open the doors for practical quantum applications (and, incidentally, earned quantum researchers the 2022 Nobel Prize).
The next phase is underway. We’re seeing the groundwork being laid.
By choosing 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the UN has made a visionary choice. It means that we all get to stand at the frontier of science, and watch it unfold in real time.
Securing Canada’s quantum future But we only get our slice of the pie if we put in the work. Canada took an early lead in quantum research – we shouldn’t let that get away from us. If you’re as keen as we are to earn Canada’s place in the quantum future – and you probably should be if you value a thriving tech industry and a skilled workforce here at home – then let’s get to it.
The quantum future is bright. Our place in it will be exactly what we make it.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 19th edition of our quarterly publication.
Imagine if governments around the world announced restrictions on the sale of rulers that are 34 centimetres long. You would be pretty confused, given there doesn’t seem to be anything special about that length – and 34cm rulers don’t exist.
Such legislation would be ludicrous, but something similar has been enacted for quantum computers in several nations (see “Multiple nations enact mysterious export controls on quantum computers“). The restrictions – which limit the export of computers with 34 or more qubits, or quantum bits, and error rates below a certain threshold – are puzzling, as such devices have no practical use, according to all published research.
But the very specificity of the number suggests some thought behind it. Clearly, someone, somewhere, is worried about nefarious use of these devices – most likely their potential to break widely used encryption methods – and wants them restricted in the name of national security.
So what is going on? There are two possibilities here: either they are wrong, as scientific evidence suggests, and pointless legislation is now being cut and pasted across the world, or they are right and have now alerted their adversaries that this is a number worth paying attention to. Both possibilities seem counterproductive, but without access to the research behind these restrictions, it is impossible to say.
One of the great strengths of science is that it is an open endeavour. For all its faults, peer review allows us to harness minds around the world to scrutinise and improve research. Our approach to making policy should be no different.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows just how powerful this can be. By publicly synthesising research, it has allowed policy-makers to understand what needs to be done to tackle climate change – and allowed others to use that evidence base to analyse policy decisions. Equally, published research during the covid-19 pandemic allowed for a public discussion on rules being imposed on us. Simply plucking a number from the air, as seems to be the case with quantum computers, is no way to govern.
Quantum computer exports are being restricted by many countries
Saigh Anees/Shutterstock
Secret international discussions have resulted in governments across the world imposing identical export controls on quantum computers, while refusing to disclose the scientific rationale behind the regulations. Although quantum computers theoretically have the potential to threaten national security by breaking encryption techniques, even the most advanced quantum computers currently in public existence are too small and too error-prone to achieve this, rendering the bans seemingly pointless.
The UK is one of the countries that has prohibited the export of quantum computers with 34 or more quantum bits, or qubits, and error rates below a certain threshold. The intention seems to be to restrict machines of a certain capability, but the UK government hasn’t explicitly said this. A New Scientist freedom of information request for a rationale behind these numbers was turned down on the grounds of national security.
France has also introduced export controls with the same specifications on qubit numbers and error rates, as has Spain and the Netherlands. Identical limits across European states might point to a European Union regulation, but that isn’t the case. A European Commission spokesperson told New Scientist that EU members are free to adopt national measures, rather than bloc-wide ones, for export restrictions. “Recent controls on quantum computers by Spain and France are examples of such national measures,” they said. They declined to explain why the figures in various EU export bans matched exactly, if these decisions had been reached independently.
A spokesperson for the French Embassy in London told New Scientist that the limit was set at a level “likely to represent a cyber risk”. They said that the controls were the same in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain because of “multilateral negotiations conducted over several years under the Wassenaar Arrangement”.
“The limits chosen are based on scientific analyses of the performance of quantum computers,” the spokesperson told New Scientist. But when asked for clarification on who performed the analysis or whether it would be publicly released, the spokesperson declined to comment further.
New Scientist wrote to dozens of Wassenaar states asking about the existence of research on the level of quantum computer that would be dangerous to export, whether that research has been published and who carried it out. Only a few responded.
“We are closely observing the introduction of national controls by other states for certain technologies,” says a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. “However, existing mechanisms can already be used to prevent in specific cases exports of such technologies.”
“We are obviously closely following Wassenaar discussions on the exact technical control parameters relating to quantum,” says Milan Godin, a Belgium adviser to the EU’s Working Party on Dual-Use Goods. Belgium doesn’t appear to have implemented its own export restrictions yet, but Godin says that quantum computers are a dual-use technology due to their potential to crack commercial or government encryption, as well as the possibility that their speed will eventually allow militaries to make faster and better plans – including in relation to nuclear missile strikes.
A spokesperson for the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control confirmed that quantum computer export controls would be the result of negotiations under the Wassenaar Arrangement, although Germany also doesn’t appear to have implemented any restrictions. “These negotiations are confidential, unfortunately we cannot share any details or information about the considerations of this control,” says the spokesperson.
Christopher Monroe, who co-founded quantum computer company IonQ, says people in the industry have noticed the identical bans and have been discussing their criteria, but he has no information on where they have come from.
“I have no idea who determined the logic behind these numbers,” he says, but it may have something to do with the threshold for simulating a quantum computer on an ordinary computer. This becomes exponentially harder as the number of qubits rises, so Monroe believes that the rationale behind the ban could be to restrict quantum computers that are now too advanced to be simulated, even though such devices have no practical applications.
“The fallacy there is that just because you cannot simulate what the quantum computer is doing doesn’t make it useful. And by severely limiting research to progress in this grey area, it will surely stifle innovation,” he says.
Splitting qubits inside a quantum computer into high and low-energy groups can charge a battery
Shutterstock / Pavel Chukhov
A 19th-century thought experiment, considered for decades to break the laws of thermodynamics, has been brought to life inside a quantum computer and used to charge a quantum battery.
Physicist James Clerk Maxwell imagined his demon in 1867 while thinking about how to cheat the laws of thermodynamics. He considered two boxes of gas separated by a weightless door and a tiny demon that controls which particles can go through it. The demon uses this control to make one box hotter…
While scientists generally try to find sensible explanations for weird phenomena, quantum entanglement has them tied in knots.
This link between subatomic particles, in which they appear to instantly influence one another no matter how far apart, defies our understanding of space and time. It famously confounded Albert Einstein, who dubbed it “spooky action at a distance”. And it continues to be a source of mystery today. “These quantum correlations seem to appear somehow from outside space-time, in the sense that there is no story in space and time that explains them,” says Nicolas Gisin at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
But the truth is that, as physicists have come to accept the mysterious nature of entanglement and are using it to develop new technologies, they are doubtful that it has anything left to tell us about how the universe works.
You can create quantum entanglement between particles by bringing them close together so that they interact and their properties become intertwined. Alternatively, entangled particles can be created together in a process such as photon emission or the spontaneous breakup of a single particle such as a Higgs boson.
The spooky thing is that, in the right conditions, if you then send these particles to opposite sides of the universe, performing a measurement on one will instantaneously affect the outcome of a measurement on the other, despite the fact that there can be no information exchanged between them.
For Einstein, this weirdness was an indication that something was missing from quantum theory.…
