SCSP News In New Commission On U.S. Quantum Primacy

Special Competitive Studies Project SCSP News

The High-Level, Bipartisan Commission on U.S. Quantum Primacy (CUSP) was established by the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) to develop a national strategy to maintain the US’s leadership in the rapidly accelerating quantum competition. As quantum technologies move from theory to practice, experts warn that the window for a long-term advantage is shrinking. This new program aims to close the innovation-national might gap to ensure that quantum technology improves American economic power and national security.

A Bipartisan Leadership Coalition

The 14-member committee brings together top technology and security experts and officials. Three co-chairs lead CUSP: Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senator Todd Young (R-IN), and SCSP President Ylli Bajraktari.

The commission includes prominent academics, government labs, and industry leaders:

Industry Leaders: Dr. Jay Gambetta (Director of Research and IBM Fellow, IBM), Jack Hidary (CEO, SandboxAQ), Niccolo de Masi (Chairman and CEO, IonQ), and Hartmut Neven.

Dr. Whitney Mason (DARPA Microsystems Technology Office Director), Dr. Thomas Mason (Los Alamos National Laboratory Director), and Laura McGill (Sandia National Laboratories Director).

Research and Investment: Pat Gelsinger, General Partner, Playground Global; Dr. Mit Jha, CEO, Quantum Corridor; Dr. Megan Anderson, Executive VP of Technology, IQT; and Dr. Gretchen Campbell, University of Maryland Associate VP for Quantum Research and Education

The Three Strategic Pillars

CUSP has three main goals to preserve a “center of gravity” for the quantum revolution:

Building a Secure Quantum Industrial Base: The commission will focus on building a resilient ecosystem with a strong talent pipeline, hardware manufacturing capabilities, and secure supply chains to maintain a technological advantage.

Keep Information Advantage: Mission-critical algorithms, systems, and protocols will be prioritized. This pillar protects information flows to sustain the country’s data processing and security leadership.

Accelerating Integration and Hybridization: Since quantum technology cannot work in a vacuum, CUSP combines quantum and conventional technologies. Finding short-term deployments that give the US an operational edge over competitors is part of this.
National Power Landscape

Ylli Bajraktari calls quantum technology a “fundamental shift in the landscape of national power” rather than just quantum computing. He said CUSP would provide the roadmap to ensure this shift benefits the free world. Senator Todd Young agreed, saying that while America has the “talent and ingenuity” to lead, strategic rivals are responding quickly. Recent sources note that China’s new five-year plan seeks to expand AI and reach quantum leadership, necessitating the US to accelerate its own development.

Senator Ben Ray Luján said that New Mexico, home to multiple national laboratories, is leading quantum research. He promised to capitalize on that momentum for a strong national agenda.

Path to Policy Recommendations

The Commission will produce a policy report with national leadership recommendations. This report will evaluate the US quantum ecosystem to ensure that the US defines and contributes to the quantum era.

As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence affect national security, the economy, and society, the SCSP, the commission’s parent organization, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to boosting America’s long-term competitiveness

Quantum Market Context

The quantum industry was busy when CUSP was introduced. Recent field advances include:

Quantum Computing Inc. is finalizing its NuCrypt acquisition and reporting increased revenues and operating costs.

QuSecure’s SBIR TACFI cryptographic resilience award highlights the relentless pursuit of quantum-secure systems.

Poland’s SKKU has inked memorandums of understanding with Classiq Technologies to study quantum algorithms for satellite pictures.

Scientific Advancements: Researchers created a half-twist molecular Möbius strip to demonstrate deep-tech innovation alongside policy advances.

The SCSP’s new commission is a major step toward formalizing a coordinated American response to one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century as the world competes for quantum domination.

2025 International Year of Quantum Marks 100 Yrs of Discovery

As the International Year of Quantum ends, the community celebrates a century of progress.

Quantum Mechanics 100th Anniversary

Scientists prepare for a quantum research milestone in 2026. UNESCO declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science & Technology to commemorate quantum mechanics’ 100th anniversary. According to the ITU and IBM, quantum computing is now a worldwide ecosystem driven by workforce expansion and cooperation, not an annual lab experiment.

Century of Science, Decade of Access

IYQ recognition was given to 1925 discoveries that shaped nature. IBM reached a milestone as it approached the tenth anniversary of delivering the first quantum processor on the cloud. Over the past decade, open access has transformed physics into a global movement involving academics, technologists, and lawmakers from six continents.

More than 1,000 people in person and 2,500 online established quantum technology’s future agenda at UNESCO in Paris in February 2025. As quantum technologies become real, industry experts underlined trust, openness, and responsibility.

A Long-Term Quantum Workforce

The IYQ focused on the need for a “quantum-ready” workforce. As governments create national quantum strategies, the focus has changed from involvement to coordinated actions. To fulfill these requests, IBM added advanced courses and improved Qiskit 2.x Developer Certification. These certificates establish a software competency baseline to help organizations and researchers define “quantum readiness.”

Education activities extended outside traditional classrooms. The IBM and ITU Voices in Quantum event series examined how quantum research affects politics, business, and civil society with over 100 nations in attendance. Due to online tools like the Qiskit YouTube channel, technical explainers can simplify complex concepts for many pupils.

Breakthrough Participation and Action

Large public endeavors were the quantum community’s most evident sign of momentum. Over 8,000 people from 115 countries registered for the 2025 Qiskit Global Summer School, a 30% increase over the previous year. Similarly, the Qiskit Fall Fest doubles its annual expansion by holding 150 activities for over 32,000 people.

These programs increasingly emphasize “Quantum in Action”—from theory to prototype. Over 400 participants from 30 countries used cloud-based quantum technology to solve real-world challenges at the ITU Future Leaders in Quantum (FLIQ) Hackathon. At the AI for Good Summit, the winning teams showed how artificial intelligence and quantum computing are working together to solve public-interest problems.

Assessing Success and Future

The increased need for openness has led to new benchmarking tools. The open-source Quantum Advantage Tracker was an important IYQ project. This combined effort allows researchers to evaluate quantum approaches against classical computing techniques in the “final stretch” toward quantum advantage, when quantum computers can solve problems beyond the most powerful classical supercomputers.

IBM and the Unitary Foundation also participated to a UNESCO-aligned ecological research. The research, which will be released in 2026, will outline the technology’s global potential and problems based on a survey of 600 academic, corporate, and government institutions.

In the coming decade, large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing and quantum computing in bigger computational activities are expected. Even though technological obstacles remain, the multinational Year of Quantum has proved that a cooperative, multinational society is the foundation for this advancement.

Sophus Quantum Solver: Transforms Supply Chain Intelligence

Quantum Solver from Sophus Technology Will Change Supply Chain Decision Intelligence

Sophus Quantum Solver

Sophus Technology Inc. unveiled a global supply chain computing power breakthrough that will transform logistics and industrial efficiency. The Sophus Quantum Solver, the company’s next-generation optimization engine, is projected to solve problems 50-100x faster than traditional methods. The engine will be released in beta in January 2026 and general availability by the end of the first quarter to prevent the “combinatorial explosion” that has plagued large-scale industrial modeling.

Overcoming Industry’s “Unsolvable” Issues

Global supply chain executives have struggled with technology for years. Most firms use Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) solvers, which struggle to keep up with network complexity. Many firms have hours- or days-long solution times, which drives up cloud computing prices.

These computational limits force teams to compress their models, which may mean ignoring complex variables or separating holistic issues into separate submodels. Sophus Technology says this is a significant trade-off when organizations choose speed above reality and judgment. By eliminating this trade-off, the Quantum Solver may solve entire classes of operational problems that were previously considered “unsolvable.”

A Solver Architecture Evolution

Quantum Solver information processing drives innovation. Traditional solvers employ mathematical enumeration and brute force, whereas the Sophus engine sees the supply chain as a networked system.

The architecture finds patterns in decision interactions across contexts, time periods, and cost structures. If these patterns are recognized early, the solver can find promising answers faster than a conventional algorithm. Most importantly, as data expands and models get more comprehensive, the system remains stable, improving its exploration of difficult topics.

Future Benchmarking: Minutes to Seconds

Thorough enterprise-scale testing validates performance claims. A benchmark study using 550,000 integer variables, 53 time periods, 1,678 consumers, and 86 distribution center (DC) locations found striking results. The Sophus Quantum Solver reached a 2% optimum gap in 25 seconds, while a usual optimization method took 82 minutes.

This performance enhancement enables real-time, useful applications like:

Global network restructuring and design.

Daily production and restocking optimization.
Complex modeling of operating limitations, switchovers, and fixed expenses.

Transitioning from Strategy to Daily Activities

By reducing runtimes from hours to seconds, Sophus is bringing advanced optimization from “strategic studies” to operational decision-making. This lets organizations immediately test additional “what-if” scenarios and run full-network models more regularly.

A company announcement stated that “this change in runtime unlocks a new cadence for decision-making.” Real-time end-to-end network optimization provides operational flexibility to respond to interruptions and cost control to maintain profitability in a volatile market.

Wide Industry Use and Ecosystem Growth

Sophus Technology is a leading specialist team in food and beverage, automotive, high technology, medical sciences, retail, consumer products, and third-party logistics. Its expertise includes Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization, Freight Consolidation, Greenfield/Brownfield Analysis, and GHG Emission Modeling.

The Quantum Solver launch aligns with Sophus’ corporate impetus. The company appointed John Kelly Vice President of Sales, demonstrating a strong desire to lead supply chain design and optimization. Sophus has signed several notable partnerships, including one with a prominent EV manufacturer and another with Visku to improve supply chain design. Chi Forrest, another famous customer, uses Sophus to optimize its capital spending strategy.

Toward 2026

Sophus’ January 2026 beta launch is being closely watched by industry observers. The Quantum Solver might transform a supply chain’s “digital twin” from a visualization tool to a real-time cost and carbon reduction engine.

Interested organizations should join the beta release waitlist and request a demo. Due to its ability to compute massive, integer-heavy models at unprecedented speeds, the Sophus Quantum Solver could redefine business decision intelligence.

“Collapsing Wave-function and visible world”

Colorado Quantum Computing Is Stabilized by Federal Security

Colorado Quantum Computing

A growing tech ecosystem that led the nation in quantum computing is confronting an existential crisis. A planned modification to federal security regulations for government-funded research has shocked the Colorado scientific community, threatening to prohibit non-U.S. citizens from the industry’s foundation labs.

NIST, a Boulder institution since the 1950s, is driving this disruption. Local officials said the planned policy changes might prevent non-U.S. associates from NIST locations after March 31. This may hinder innovation and cause a “brain drain” of top scientists.

Startups immediately affected

Local enterprises like Icarus Quantum are bringing the federal government’s quantum research goal from lab to market. Four years after being set out from NIST, the lab recently handed Icarus a $400,000 grant to investigate connecting small quantum computers to more powerful processors.

Poolad Imany, the company’s CEO, is a U.S. citizen who uses NIST’s “nanofab” capabilities but is considering Boston, Chicago, and California. Because several of his coworkers are Chinese and Iranian and could be locked out.

“For the state’s quantum aspirations, we have these joint projects with NIST that we have to deliver on, and we have employees who won’t be able to go to NIST after 31 March,” Imany said, calling the scenario “very, very unfortunate

Conflict between policy and science

NIST began restricting non-citizen lab access after hours in January. NIST spokesman Jennifer Huergo said the revision is in keeping with a 2021 Trump administration national security policy and Biden administration implementation recommendations, albeit it hasn’t been completed. The guidelines aimed to prevent foreign government meddling and “xenophobia or prejudice”.

Institutions receiving government research money over $50 million must comply with stricter rules. Despite NIST’s “Safeguarding International Science” policy, which promotes inclusivity, the Boulder facility’s 1,500 employees, contractors, and visitors are having problems adapting to the new rules.

Economic and Competitive Concerns

Political leaders in Colorado have lamented the impact. The findings worried Senator John Hickenlooper, who named Colorado a quantum computing “Tech Hub” in 2023. His words: “NIST in Boulder is a research engine driving our future economic growth. It’s alarming that this government is covertly plotting to terminate hundreds of top scholars. Forcing them out will inevitably slow our economy.

Eric Maruyama of the governor’s office said the changes “stifle scientific discovery” and threaten American competitiveness. A $40.5 million federal award Elevate Quantum manages is at risk. Startup support and staff training are part of the award to boost the local ecosystem.

Historical Anchor

The cooperation between NIST and CU Boulder has long underpinned the region’s scientific success. This partnership created the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) in 1962, which has produced five quantum physics Nobel laureates.

Although international students have not been barred access, CU spokesman Nicole Cousins said the federal university is still vital. This alliance produced the world’s most accurate atomic clock and quantum devices that detect gas leaks in real time.

Greater Unrest

NIST has multiple doubts. Recent years have seen considerable scientific changes in Colorado. Golden’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory let off hundreds of workers after becoming the National Laboratory of the Rockies in December. The Boulder National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) may be demolished.

Many in the sector fear the present approach threatens national security. Scott Davis, CEO of Vescent, a quantum laser manufacturer, said several of his company’s partnerships with NIST are “in limbo” because the researchers are foreign nationals. He cited the Manhattan Project as an example of how foreign scientists have helped U.S. strategic advantages. I am sympathetic to national security concerns, but attracting and retaining the world’s brightest has historically supported U.S. security, Davis said.

Boulder’s quantum community is still vigilantly balancing the sharing spirit that made Boulder a global scientific powerhouse with national security concerns as the March 31 deadline approaches.

The Alfred P Sloan Foundation Awards for Illinois Faculty

The Alfred P Sloan Foundation

Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members were designated Sloan Research Fellows for 2026 for early-career scientific achievement. This Alfred P. Sloan Foundation prize recognizes scholars whose “creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments” make them future scientific leaders.

The Illinois 2026 cohort includes math professor Benjamin Castle, physics professor Jacob Covey, and microbiology professor Wei Qin. That includes the 126 early-career scientists nationally who received this accolade. The two-year, $75,000 stipend gives each fellow flexible support for their research objectives.

Advances in Logic and Quantum Physics

Benjamin Castle joined the University of Illinois as a mathematical logic professor in 2024. Castle studies combinatorics and algebraic geometry using logic. He earned his PhD from Berkeley in 2021. His Sloan Fellowship shows his ability to link theoretical logic to other relevant mathematical fields.

In quantum physics, Jacob Covey is recognized for his work on basic quantum information and communications concerns. Covey studies atoms with precise laser beam “tweezers”. Two patents and Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Awards have helped Covey make a substantial impact in the field since joining the Illinois faculty in 2020. He received his Ph.D. in 2017 from CU Boulder.

Discovering Microbe and Biogeochemistry Secrets

Wei Qin, our third laureate, studies complexity in soil and marine microbes. Qin studies how these microscopic animals react to environmental and ecological change stresses and affect biogeochemistry, particularly the nitrogen cycle. Qin joined the University of Illinois in 2025 after getting a Ph.D. from Washington in 2016. His career has been marked by honours like the Simons Foundation Early Career Award for aquatic microbial ecology and evolution and the Department of Energy Early Career Award.

A Research Culture of High Impact

These three scholars’ honors reflect UIUC’s research culture. Socially significant research from public health to urban planning is still conducted by the institute.

In his latest book “Dracula Urbanism,” geography and spatial information science professor David Wilson examined the drawbacks of technological progress. Wilson found that “smart cities” that employ technology to manage services and resources can harm impoverished and vulnerable residents.

Health and kinesiology pioneer Professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo is studying postpartum depression’s intricacy. Her research found seven risk variables for pain after delivering birth. Variables include prenatal mental health, pain treatment efficacy, and patient-provider communication.

Additionally, the university leads neurological research. A recent study found that the gene most linked to Alzheimer’s disease is part of a vital pathway. Researchers found that this gene increases seizure activity by inhibiting neuronal ion pumps and energy-producing enzymes. The study found that stimulating these energy channels in mice models reduced seizures, suggesting an Alzheimer’s treatment.

Scientific Welfare Support

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission, funds these fellowships. Increasing scientific knowledge to improve health is its fundamental purpose. The foundation provides flexible support to Castle, Covey, and Qin, ensuring that future leaders can make groundbreaking discoveries.

Three Sloan Fellows improve the University of Illinois’ reputation for social, biological, and physical research innovation.

Amenințarea cuantică asupra criptomonedelor nu mai e o ipoteză, iar Ethereum a înțeles asta

Amaravati State Quantum Mission ASQM for India’s Vision 2047

Amaravati State Quantum Mission

India is beginning a dramatic path to maintain its leadership in quantum science, a new technology. The nation is building top-notch infrastructure to boost innovation, industrial development, and national security with billions of rupees and aggressive state-level initiatives. From world-class research institutes to “Quantum Valleys,” India is preparing to become a major quantum computing exporter.

The ₹6,003 Crore Foundation for Sovereignty

The National Quantum Mission (NQM), a ₹6,003 crore project recently approved by the Union Cabinet, is the movement’s principal focus. The mission aims to create domestic capabilities in quantum computing, sensing, communication, and materials. The government is achieving this by building international-standard central and fabrication facilities in premier research universities.

Four quantum fabrication facilities at IIT Bombay, IISc Bengaluru, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Delhi will cost ₹720 crore, as announced by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh. Superconducting and photonic qubits are needed for domestic quantum development, and these facilities meet international quality criteria. India invests in this “sovereign ascent” to reduce its dependency on imported machinery and boost domestic innovation.

Amaravati Vision: India’s First Full-Stack Ecosystem

State governments promote industry and commerce, while the federal government funds research. With the Amaravati Quantum Valley (AQV), Andhra Pradesh leads. This 50-acre “full-stack” quantum ecosystem integrates quantum computing, AI, semiconductor research, and defense innovation.

C.V. Sridhar, Mission Director of the Amaravati State Quantum Mission, said these measures will place India in the top 10 quantum technology nations. The AQV will center on an IBM cooperation to house an IBM Quantum System Two, India’s largest quantum processor with a 156-qubit Heron processor. This center partners with TCS and L&T to market and integrate research findings into the economy.

Indigenous Manufacturing and Comparison

The infrastructure goes beyond PCs to support an independent ecosystem. To benchmark components, Andhra Pradesh is establishing a Quantum Reference Facility at an estimated cost of ₹40 crore. Amber Enterprises is investing ₹200 crore in a plant for quantum cryogenic components to address quantum technology production needs.

Non-government organizations like universities, startups, MSMEs, and the private sector can use these facilities. This joint technique bridges the “technology gap” to test and scale cutting-edge research domestically. Professionals expect innovations in climate modeling, cybersecurity, logistics, and healthcare.

Workforce Preparation for Deployment

India recognizes that hardware alone is insufficient and focuses on people capital. The NQM includes a strategy for training quantum physics experts.

The Andhra Pradesh government has instructed schools to teach quantum computing. At a recent Rayalaseema University Faculty Development Programme (FDP), educators were urged to prepare students for “Quantum City” hubs. The goal is to train a “deployment-ready” workforce that can support sensing, communication, and computing.

Road to 2047

The “Viksit Bharat-Viksit Andhra Pradesh 2047” national goal drives these investments. India intends to increase public administration’s cyber resilience and transparency by building the first quantum governance framework, ensuring that technology serves the public while protecting national interests.

India is becoming a quantum technology supply hub as these international-standard facilities open. A successful quantum economy is developing from basic research, signaling that India will lead the deep-tech revolution.

Taiwan’s Quantum Computing Push: From 5 to 20 Qubits in Two Years

Chief Minister and Union Minister lay foundation for Quantum Valley

The Chief Minister and Union Minister laid the foundation for India’s Quantum Valley — a transformative initiative that will accelerate quantum research, innovation, and talent development. This milestone marks a significant step toward strengthening India’s position in the global quantum technology landscape.

The Cavendish Laboratory Joins FormationQ & IonQ In Quantum

The Cavendish Lab

A substantial applied quantum effort was launched by Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and FormationQ. This two-year cooperation, the Quantum Technologies Accelerated Alignment Initiative, aims to translate Department of Physics quantum research into worldwide commercial solutions.

The project, supported by cutting-edge IonQ technology, is a vital step toward overcoming the “ecosystem bottleneck” that prevents quantum innovations from being commercially viable.

Bridging the “Valley of Death” with Strategic Investment

FormationQ invested £1,675,000 ($2.5 million) in the partnership. This money is designed to fund the Cavendish Laboratory’s dedicated staff, research, and equipment.

Project leaders said the program aims to bridge the “valley of death” between theoretical research and commercial application. The program intends to create the “connective tissue” needed for long-term technological implementation by combining Cambridge’s research leadership with FormationQ’s operational framework and IonQ’s technology.

The Technology: IonQ Trapped-Ion Advantage

The project relies on IonQ’s quantum technology platform, noted for its accuracy and scalability. Researchers will have many resources, including:

IonQ Forte: 32 algorithmic qubits, high-performance.

IonQ Aria: A system having 79 qubits for complex calculations, along with the Forte.

Precision and Connectivity: IonQ set a 99.99% gate fidelity record in late 2025. The “all-to-all” connection in their systems lets every qubit talk to every other qubit. This significantly reduces error correction and complex algorithm execution processing costs compared to other systems.

Initiative Three Pillars: Strategic Objectives

The Quantum Technologies Accelerated Alignment Initiative has three key development areas directed by academics and supported by interdisciplinary research teams:

This pillar improves quantum system reliability in real-world settings with less regulation than in a lab.

Quantum networking and sensing: Teams will develop and test connected technologies to improve high-precision sensing and secure communications.
Societal and Industrial Readiness: This goal prepares the global labor and commercial infrastructure for quantum capabilities. It aims to train “quantum-literate” scientists and engineers.

First Research: Materials Science and Chemistry

The first phase will emphasize materials science and computational chemistry. Quantum computing is expected to advance these sectors beyond classical supercomputers.

The first 24 months will focus on showing quantum advantage can tackle problems that even the most powerful supercomputers cannot. FormationQ will translate difficult algorithms into executable code for IonQ’s trapped-ion technology using its software development expertise.

Views on Leadership

Leaders from throughout the alliance stressed collaboration to address industrial constraints:

Chief of the Cavendish Laboratory, Professor Mete Atatüre: “Quantum technology progress requires strong industry-academic relationships and ongoing dialogue. This will enable us practically apply quantum research”.
According to FormationQ CEO Nada Hosking, the barrier in quantum technology is the ecology, not science. We’re building bridges by combining the Cavendish Laboratory’s science, FormationQ’s operations, and IonQ’s industry-leading quantum technology.
According to FormationQ CTO Virginia Vass, “This initiative extends beyond fundamental research, explicitly targeting the translation of quantum computing capabilities into tangible solutions for industry challenges”.
See also Quantum Workforce Development for America’s Quantum Future.

Market Context and 2030 Roadmap
This revelation coincides with an industry shift toward “Quantum Realism”. Companies are increasingly investing in “hybrid” approaches that combine classical AI with quantum layers, rather than treating quantum as a curiosity.

This project advances IonQ’s “AQ” (Algorithmic Qubit) roadmap to 2 million physical qubit systems by 2030. The partners are constructing deep-tech labs at Cambridge to prepare for fault-tolerant quantum computers by providing knowledge and industrial pathways.

Learn more about quantum error correction in Phantom Codes: A Breakthrough.

Additional Industry Developments

The Cambridge partnership is the major issue, although additional notable breakthroughs include:

Zapata Quantum received an important Quantum Intermediate Representation (QIR) patent in many worldwide marketplaces.

Infleqtion showed scalable quantum computing with faster and more accurate qubit measurements.

The University of Miami reported an AI system that can forecast coral bleaching six weeks in advance.

The University of Exeter is developing quantum sensors for navigation and medical diagnosis.

Diamond Quantum Microchiplets For Quantum Computing

These nanoscale, modular optical components are made by putting foundry-etched silicon masks onto diamond substrates to construct high-performance quantum electronics. This novel manufacturing method allows mass production of homogenous quantum devices and integration of diamond qubits into electrical and photonic circuits without arduous fabrication.

Researchers have long faced a diamond production “material bottleneck” in the worldwide race to build a quantum internet and large-scale quantum computers. Diamond quantum microchiplets, a promising quantum hardware candidate, have been delayed by production issues. A recent study conducted by Jawaher Almutlaq and Alessandro Buzzi from MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics, KAUST, Photon Foundries, Inc., and The MITRE Corporation developed a “microchiplet” manufacturing paradigm to address this issue.

Diamond Advantage and Fabrication Bottleneck

Color centers, atomic-scale defects, make diamonds excellent for quantum technologies. The fundamental building blocks of quantum information, stable qubits, may produce single photons and remain stable at ambient temperature. This requires implanting these emitters in nanophotonic structures like waveguides (light wires) and optical cavities (light traps) to collect and control photons.

Historically, building these structures was “artisanal” and individualized.

Traditional Methods: Most labs utilize electron-beam lithography (EBL), which draws one line at a time on the diamond.
The Issue: EBL is sluggish, expensive, and hard to scale for large-scale manufacturing.
Diamond’s notorious difficulties in etching and manipulating causes considerable variability and low yield of operational devices.

Innovation in Manufacturing: Silicon Mask Strategy

The study team moved the most difficult pattern-definition procedures from the brittle diamond substrate to normal silicon to avoid these limits. This foundry-enabled patterning method uses commercial semiconductor foundries’ industrial infrastructure for precision.

The fabrication process includes:

Foundry Fabrication: A commercial semiconductor foundry uses industrial lithography to etch high-resolution silicon hard masks onto silicon wafers from intricate nanoscale patterns.
Microtransfer Printing (μTP) use commercial stamping technology to deposit silicon masks onto high-quality single-crystal diamond substrates from their original wafer.
Reactive-Ion Etching: As the quantum microchiplets are removed, the silicon mask protects specific spots, giving the diamond foundry-level precision.
To limit light efficiently using total internal reflection, the technology creates “suspended” diamond nanobeams in the air.
This wafer-scale fabrication method allows hundreds of devices to be produced simultaneously and repeatedly without diamond lithography.

Rising “Microchiplet”

The modular chiplet architecture is the most notable development in this study. The researchers constructed hundreds of diamond quantum microchiplets instead of one monolithic quantum circuit on a diamond chunk.

This modular approach has many benefits for the quantum industry:

Selection After Fabrication As independent chiplets, manufacturers can examine each device and select the “best of the best” for final integration.
Defect Management: Bad devices can be replaced, bypassing monolithic diamond circuits’ low yield issues.
Statistical Uniformity: Foundry-made masks produce statistically uniform arrays of nanophotonic cavities, which is essential for complex systems because every component must work identically.

Outstanding Performance

Experimental results show that this industrial method improves device performance over lab procedures.

Enhanced Optical Quality: The researchers stated that cavity quality factors—a measure of how efficiently a cavity traps light—improved by 3.8 times over heterogeneous integration experiments.
Precision Engineering: Photonic crystal cavities, 300-nanometer nanobeams, and 127-nanometer air holes are in the chiplets.
Quantum Coupling: These structures were developed to link with Tin-vacancy (SnV) color centers (Sn-117), enabling a deterministic spin-photon interaction.

Bridge: Quantum-Classical Hybrid Systems

An exciting aspect of quantum microchiplets is their compatibility with existing technology. Because they are manufactured in a foundry, these quantum microchiplet components interface smoothly with CMOS platforms.

This allows hybrid quantum-classical technology, where diamond chiplets do quantum computing and silicon electronics handle data routing, classical control, and information processing. This integration is considered the science’s “holy grail” since it lets quantum machines use the semiconductor industry’s decades-old infrastructure.

The Future Roadmap

This breakthrough turns quantum gadget production from a custom craft into an industrial process, enabling quantum technology scale. Producing high-quality, large-area suspended membranes (up to 750μm x 750μm) with high yield is a game-changer for the industry.

Many important places are affected:

Secure Quantum Networks: Hardware for unbackable communication.
Allowing large-scale photonic devices to use quantum mechanics for complex calculations.
Scalable Photonics: A flexible framework for photonic integrated circuits.
This work shows that “quantum” and “classical” production worlds can be merged, bringing scalable quantum technology closer to reality.

Listen to the podcast at the link above..

New Quantum Refrigerator Turns Noise into a Cooling Resource

This new quantum refrigerator cools with random noise.

Quantum Refrigerator

Quantum technology is sensitive, hence “noise” is usually bad. It is the greatest obstacle to building a quantum server since it disrupts qubit coherence and computations. Chalmers University of Technology researchers’ discovery challenges this idea. Dephasing noise was used as fuel to power a quantum refrigerator in a superconducting circuit.

Moving toward self-sustaining quantum machines

As quantum devices become increasingly complex, scientists are interested in thermodynamics at the smallest scales. Quantum thermodynamics studies single systems with frequent fluctuations, while thermodynamics studied big systems like steam engines. One area of focus is the design of autonomous thermal machines that can cool or generate entanglement without external time or work.

Researchers Simone Gasparinetti and Simon Sundelin wanted to build a Brownian refrigerator. This refrigerator uses noise to transport heat against a temperature gradient, inspired by Brownian motors, which allow unidirectional transmission in response to random changes. Due to the difficulty of controlling random noise, such devices have eluded practical implementation despite years of theory.

The “Artificial Molecule” Composition

A diatomic molecule with two flux-tunable, ostensibly identical transmon qubits was created by the researchers. Magnetic flux can properly alter qubit frequencies because a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) avoids them. Researchers hybridized these two qubits to create a ground state and two collective excited states—symmetric and antisymmetric.

This molecule was coupled to semi-infinite microwave waveguides S and A. Symmetry-selective coupling causes the antisymmetric waveguide (A) to engage with the molecule’s antisymmetric transition, while the symmetric waveguide (S) interacts with the symmetric transition. These waveguides are machine “heat baths”. By pumping quasithermal radiation—synthesised microwave noise—into waveguides, researchers created “hot” and “cold” reservoirs that replicated different temperatures.

Turning Noise into Work

An additional channel powers this refrigerator’s “engine”: a flux line that regulates dephasing noise in a synthetic atom. Noise-assisted excitation transport leads the molecule to transition incoherently between its symmetric and antisymmetric states.

This dephasing would only lose information in a typical quantum system. Noise provides the precise energy quanta needed to close the gap between the excited states in this thermal machine. Researchers carefully adjusted the frequency components of the noise to match the energy split between the states (in this experiment, roughly 2.1 GHz) to “pump” energy from the cold reservoir to the hot one.

An adaptable heater

To demonstrate their technology’s versatility, researchers altered reservoir effective temperatures and inserted dephasing noise. It works three ways:

Quantum Heat Engine: It converts reservoir heat into energy.
Thermal accelerator: Accelerates heat’s natural transition from hot to cold bath.
Quantum Refrigerator: uses the dephasing channel to drive heat against the temperature gradient to cool a cold reservoir.
These experiments were amazingly accurate.To quantify photonic heat currents with sub-attowatt resolution (less than 10−18 Watts), the scientists used simultaneous power-spectral-density measurements. The refrigerator’s coefficient of performance (COP) of 4.68 was surprisingly close to the fundamental Carnot limit of 4.88 at the experiment’s temperatures.

Next steps and scientific significance

This study proves noise’s thermodynamic resource potential. The device matches the Lindblad master equation, an important quantum thermodynamics mathematical tool. The gadget resembles a minimum three-level quantum absorption refrigerator because dephasing noise provides an infinite-temperature reservoir.

The experts suggest adapting this method to use natural thermal sources like diluted refrigerator heat. Real-time monitoring of minute heat flows allows quantum fluctuations and thermodynamic timekeeping costs to be studied. We can gain from quantum noisy chaos, which changes the future of quantum engineering.

WISeKey SEALCOIN at Davos 2026: Blockchain Trade Into Orbit

WISeKey Reveals Quantum-Resistant Space Trade Future at Davos 2026

Launch of SEALCOIN

As the elite gather at Davos 2026, WISeKey International Holding Ltd. (WISeKey) declares a digital economy development. The Swiss cybersecurity and IoT powerhouse will debut the SEALCOIN platform, which extends blockchain transactions and identity enforcement into Earth’s orbit. This will make satellites active, independent players in the global economy rather than passive communication relays.

A Novel Blockchain Implementation Method

SEALCOIN uses the WISeSat low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation.The transaction execution and enforcement space. Anchoring encrypted identity in space provides a solid execution layer for key infrastructure, IoT devices, and AI agents. This architecture was designed for areas with scarce, insecure, or geopolitical and cyberthreats related to terrestrial connectivity.

Satellites can perform complex tasks in this new biosphere. They can regulate access, validate transactions, and secure data. They can also transfer encrypted payloads directly to authenticated devices on the ground, ensuring a closed-loop security environment without middlemen.

The quantum security milestone

Quantum-resistant cryptographic signatures issued on satellites are one of Davos 2026’s most important innovations. Satellites sign data and transactions at the hardware level for the first time worldwide using post-quantum techniques.

This move is a preemptive response against “harvest-now-decrypt-later” attacks, in which attackers acquire encrypted data today to decrypt it with quantum computers. Long-term security requires post-quantum-ready foundations in the initial deployment because orbital systems last for years and are hard to change with new hardware.

Infrastructure of the Machine Economy

Besides being a currency, SEALCOIN is a transactional infrastructure for the “machine economy”. In this economy, autonomous robots trade value, coordinate work, and verify each other without human intervention. Four main pillars support the platform architecture:

Certification of semiconductor security.
Public Key Infrastructure-based IDs.
DLS settlement.
Ready cryptography for post-quantum computing.
This combination allows machines to trade and function anywhere, even in faraway industrial regions or deep space, while maintaining great autonomy and security.

Utility and market launch of QAIT Token

The SEALCOIN network runs on the QAIT token, its native utility and payment method. QAIT is used for machine authentication, transaction settlement, and economic activity coordination in space-based and terrestrial systems.

Token Generation Event (TGE) for QAIT is first quarter 2026. WISeKey is working with tier-one exchanges for the launch to align the network’s economics with its operational satellite capabilities. Income should drive QAIT, crucially. Institutional and industrial clients in the WISeKey ecosystem employ SEALCOIN for data interchange and device identification, creating direct, non-speculative demand.

WISeKey Subsidiary Ecosystem

The SEALCOIN platform relies on WISeKey’s specialist subsidiaries’ seamless integration. These include:

SEALSQ Corp: Focusing on post-quantum technology and semiconductors, trust’s hardware.
WISeSat AG is responsible for satellite communications and space technology security.
WiseKey SA: IoT and AI authentication and digital identification.
SEALCOIN AG: Advancing Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network technologies.
WISeKey has deployed over 1.6 billion microchips worldwide. AI analysis of chip data enables predictive maintenance and equipment failure avoidance.

In conclusion

WISeKey is promoting SEALCOIN as a response to a major technology market shift ahead of its Davos “Trust and Convergence 2026” discussions. They want to use semiconductors, space infrastructure, and quantum-resistant security to create a resilient, sovereign, and autonomous crypto infrastructure. Businesses and public sector organizations can see a future where the economy is as much in the stars as on the earth.

SEALCOIN cost
In January 2026, SEALCOIN (QAIT) began its Token Generation Event (TGE). The latest 2026 Davos summit data:

Current Price and Launch Information

A QAIT token costs $0.03 USD at launch.

Market Situation: Q1 2026 TGE.

WISeKey is issuing the coin through tier-one exchanges after its Davos launch on January 21, 2026.

Maximum token supply: 10 billion QAIT tokens.

WISeKey Contextual Stock Pricing

Since the QAIT token is new, some investors use the parent firm’s stock as a proxy for its health. Starting late January 2026:

WISeKey is trading at $8.46, up from its 52-week low, due to Davos announcement anticipation.

Analysts like Maxim have raised their price target for WKEY to $13.00 due to the SEALCOIN ecosystem’s potential.

Important “Seal” Coin Information

Several unrelated projects have similar names. To ensure you see the right asset:

The correct ticker is QAIT (previously TIOT).
Avoid $SEAL (Solana/Meme): The meme currency selling for $0.0034 is unrelated to the WISeKey quantum-security initiative.

Avoid SUICY: This Sui-based company is worth $0.000016.

Europe’s €50M Photonics for Quantum P4Q: 12-Country Mission

Europe is implementing a €50 million “Photonics for Quantum” pilot to bridge research and business.

Photonics for Quantum (P4Q), a 12-country European pilot initiative, has been launched to ensure a global quantum leadership position. This €50 million project conducted by the University of Twente in the Netherlands aims to turn quantum technologies into reliable, scalable industrial goods. The effort focuses on photonics and quantum mechanics to build a European manufacturing base for next-generation computing, sensing, and communication.

Resolving Laboratory Bottleneck

Quantum technology has long shown promise in controlled study. However, using these gains has been tricky. According to University of Twente Photonics for Quantum organizer Pepijn Pinkse, the effort aims to help “ideas that currently remain in the lab can grow into really useful devices more quickly.”

Scalability and reliability of photonic chips are Photonics for Quantum’s biggest problem. Quantum photonic components must work reliably over millions of units, unlike conventional electronics. Standardization and cutting-edge production processes for reproducible manufacturing are the project’s goals.

The Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Photonics for Quantum has 29 significant partners, including universities, RTOs, foundries, and large industrial firms. This ecosystem includes IMEC, TNO, CEA-Leti, Thales, and innovative startups like QphoX and QuiX Quantum.

Process and Assembly Design Kits (PDKs) are crucial to the project’s technical approach. These kits help an industrial foundry build a lab-designed chip by combining design, manufacture, and packaging. Photonic platforms like silicon nitride (SiN), thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), and alumina will be studied for quantum activities.

Uses: Water to Hospitals

Several sectors will be affected by Photonics for Quantum. One of the most promising areas is quantum sensing. The program intends to build sensors that can assess extremely low biological signals in hospital labs or detect minute water pipe contamination with more precision than “classical” technology.

P4Q intends to create dependable photonic circuits for “full stack” quantum computers for computing and communication. These chips must be stable at cryogenic temperatures, where many quantum processors operate. The initiative also aims to allow unhackable quantum communication by exchanging entangled photons.

In particular, Delft-based partner QphoX will fabricate photonic interfaces to connect quantum storage and processors to the optical telecom band. This is crucial for networking quantum computers over long distances utilizing glass fiber infrastructure.

Getting Industrial Ready

High Manufacturing and Technology Readiness Levels (MRL and TRL) define Photonics for Quantum. The project targets TRL-8 and MRL-8.

By expanding test and production facilities, the idea lowers the entry hurdle for startups and smaller deep-tech companies. This common infrastructure lets smaller companies evaluate their components industrially without building their own foundries.

Strategic autonomy and funding

National governments in the twelve participating nations contribute €25 million while the EU invests €25 million of the €50 million budget. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Quantum Delta NL, Nanolab NL, and Oost NL fund the program in the Netherlands.

This investment shows Europe’s desire to improve its industrial skills and strategic edge in photonics and quantum physics. As global competition for these technologies heats up, the Photonics for Quantum pilot ensures European research excellence leads to high-tech sovereignty and economic supremacy.

Classiq Quantum Computing at the World Economic Forum 2026

The World Economic Forum 2026

As the world’s most powerful decision-makers meet for the 2026 WEF Annual Meeting, their discourse is changing. Previous Davos topics included macroeconomic stability and conventional financial models, but now deep technology dominates. Classiq, a Tel Aviv-based quantum computing software pioneer, is at the center of this “pivotal moment” for quantum technology commercialization.

Switching from Lab to Boardroom

For years, quantum computing was limited to R&D and theoretical physics. However, Classiq’s involvement at Davos shows a growing global consensus that quantum computing is a “today” enterprise readiness issue, not a “tomorrow” one. On January 19, 2026, the company will host key sessions during Davos Innovation Week, a prominent side event that brings together digital innovators, venture investors, and international officials.

Classiq emphasizes practicality at the summit. Quantum hardware has advanced, but the “software bottleneck” has persisted. Many enterprises have failed to get past the experimental stage due to the difficulty of writing and improving code for complex quantum systems.

Strategic Leadership and Implementation
Classiq’s delegation, led by CEO Nir Minerbi and CRO Regev Yativ, explains quantum integration to world leaders with practical constraints. It aims to show how quantum algorithms can be turned into deployable software with measurable benefits.

“Quantum Technology: Unlocking the Power of the Next Computing Revolution” will be a summit highlight. Nir Minerbi will headline this track on enterprise preparedness. He wants to guide companies from theoretical research to scalable, real-world software development.

Regev Yativ will also discuss adoption cycles on a high-level panel. Yativ will help enterprises decide when and how to invest in quantum hardware without waiting for “perfect” hardware.

Financial and Industrial Metaverse Use Cases

Classiq’s Davos Deep-Dive Workshops with Solutions Architect Romi Levy are highly anticipated. These seminars will focus on financial use cases, where quantum’s ability to manage complex optimization and risk modeling is expected to make its first major impact.

Classiq’s focus on real-world implementation follows a momentous year. The company received strategic “up-round” funding from IonQ, AMD Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures in 2025. With its relationship with NVIDIA on hybrid quantum-classical digital twin technologies, Classiq is also at the center of industrial metaverse discussions. This partnership shows how quantum software may boost classical computers to recreate complex ecosystems with unprecedented precision.

C-Suite Anxiety: Disruption and Vendor Lock-in

Classiq is of interest to Davos CEOs and chairpersons due of the possibility of “quantum disruption”. The C-suite worries that a competitor can use quantum advantages to breach encryption protocols or optimize supply chains to exceed conventional methods.

Classiq’s hardware-agnostic platform alleviates these concerns. The platform allows teams to “design once and deploy across any hardware,” reducing “vendor lock-in” risk. In a fast-changing market, big organizations need this flexibility to avoid being dependent on one single provider.

Automating the conversion of high-level functional models into efficient, hardware-ready circuits is another unique feature of the platform. Classiq’s automation lets firms use quantum power without much human capital. Quantum programming used to demand PhD-level physicists for each line of code.

Mountain Plaza Hotel networking

Outside of keynotes and technical sessions, Davos work often occurs in “free-flow” networking lounges. Classiq has an Open Networking Lounge in the Mountain Plaza Hotel’s Grialetsch room on Davos Platz.

This platform connects deep-tech startups with family offices and VCs that fund global expansion. The “real deals” of Davos are made in these unofficial settings, which link global financial engines to quantum software creativity.

Proof of Industry Maturity

Classiq’s invitation to the “world’s most influential table” shows its rapid development. The company, one of Fast Company’s “Next Big Things in Tech 2025,” leads the quantum software market.

Classiq’s Davos 2026 presence shows quantum technology has moved beyond the lab. The message to world leaders is clear: the software to lead the transformation to a quantum-enabled economy is already available, and “how” is now the question.