Quantum computing hits ‘put up or shut up’ moment - Federal News Network

Government and industry officials have cautious optimism about advancing quantum computing use cases ranging from materials sciences to pharmaceuticals. Federal agencies are deepening investments in projects intended to bring quantum computing from the lab into the field, with one former government official calling it a “put up or shut up” moment for the technology. During an event Tuesday organized by the Special Competitive Studies Project in Washington, D.C., government and industry officials expressed cautious optimism about quantum computing use cases ranging from materials sciences to pharmaceuticals. The event was hosted the same day SCSP released a preliminary report from the Commission on U.S. Quantum Primacy. The report found that while current quantum computing systems “face technical constraints like error rates and scale,” they also carry “transformative potential in chemistry, materials science, drug discovery, and other computationally demanding fields.” Deputy Secretary of Commerce Paul Dabbar pointed to Commerce Department commitments to invest $2 billion with nine companies to “accelerate” U.S. leadership in quantum computing. Join us Dec. 7 at 1 pm for Federal News Network's Industry Exchange IT Modernization event. Top technology leaders will explore the latest IT modernization strategies and share actionable insights to help agencies optimize infrastructure, strengthen security and improve mission outcomes. He also said Commerce would be an early adopter of post-quantum cryptography in the federal government. Dabbar said the agency would be inviting companies to a PQC demonstration next month. “As a good use-case for government, whether it’s for NASA, the Department of [Defense] or us at Commerce, we are going to be the first big customer of most of the post-quantum cryptography technology industry,” Dabbar said. Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is now moving into the final stage of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. The goal is to determine whether it’s possible to develop an “industrially useful” quantum computer by 2033. This fall, DARPA announced participating companies for the third and final round of the initiative. While the first two stages of the initiative involved developing concepts and research and development plans, “Stage C” will involve companies working with DARPA to “verify and validate that the utility-scale quantum computer concept can be constructed as designed and operated as intended.” Whitney Mason, director for the Multi X Office at DARPA – which oversees the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative – said the goal is to see “if the hype is true.” She said DARPA is planning some initial engagements under phase three for January. “If the hardware is actually going to be available, if the error correction, if all the rest of the space is available, how do we work with the commercial world in order to develop those use cases, and how do we think about from a government perspective about how we pay for those,” Mason said. “What are these actually worth?” Rick Muller, senior vice President and chief scientist at IonQ Federal, said the goal is to understand when a quantum computer will “provide more value than it costs.” Muller is the former director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Sign up for our daily newsletter so you never miss a beat on all things federal IonQ is one of six companies selected to participate in Stage C of DARPA’s initiative. “We’re excited,” Muller said. “It’s a put up or shut up moment for quantum computing. We and the other performers are excited to have the opportunity to have a really good testing and evaluation team checking all of our numbers and holding our feet to the fire for that, and proving that we can deliver something that will change the world.” Meanwhile, like with advanced computer chips and artificial intelligence models, U.S. officials are also concerned about protecting U.S. quantum advances from foreign competitors. “We have to be very careful about American leadership on the frontier on all technologies, and quantum is certainly one of them,” Dabbar said. “We want to be very thoughtful about making certain that which is invented by people in this room are retained by people in this room and are not copied or stolen.” The Tuesday event came against the backdrop of an alleged spy plot targeting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. While Huang or Nvidia weren’t mentioned by name, multiple speakers at the event alluded to the controversy surrounding the advanced chipmaker. Michael Massetti, section chief at the FBI and head of the interagency Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team (QCPT), pointed to insider threats and “a very complex one that we’ve seen just recently manifest in the headlines.” But Massetti said the potential threats to U.S. quantum science and technology also include cybersecurity, supply chain risks and more. “While we are still working to implement mitigations for each of those individual problems, generally speaking, solutions exist there, and we have risk reduction mechanisms which we can provide,” Massetti said. “There is an emerging set of new threats for which we are ill-equipped and are not necessarily as well prepared for. And I would ask the question for many of you, is that, as you are developing your technologies, to what extent are you prepared for a nation-state level actor who is determined to potentially bring your activities offline, or to potentially capture your intellectual property?” Sen.

Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), co-chairman of the Commission on U.S. Quantum Primacy, also didn’t mention Huang by name, but said technology executives in general “need to be smarter” about protecting secrets. “People need to make better decisions when you’re entrusted with that kind of power and responsibility,” he said. Copyright © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.