After a yearlong technical review, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said Thursday it will advance designs from Microsoft and California-based PsiQuantum to the next phase of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
Through the program, DARPA wants to understand whether it’s possible to develop a utility-scale quantum computing system — which means that its computational value is greater than its cost — by 2033. To do this, the agency is not only investing in companies’ research, but it’s also helping to verify and validate their plans and share the results of their work with the broader U.S. government.
Known as QBI, the effort builds on previous work under the agency’s Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing, or US2QC.
Both Microsoft and PsiQuantum have moved through a rigorous slate of technical analysis conducted by a team of more than 50 industry, government and scientific experts. The next, and final, phase of the effort will focus on full-system performance to validate whether their concepts can be built and operated as expected.
“Now, we’re ready to evaluate their final utility-scale system designs, conduct government testing of components and hardware, and assess system-level performance capabilities of major prototypes,” Joe Alpeter, DARPA’s QBI program manager, said in a statement.
Quantum computers can process data at much faster rates than a standard computer. For the military, more processing power means faster automation, improved target recognition and more precise, lethal weapons. It also raises concerns around cybersecurity, as an adversary could use quantum computers to decrypt classified information or disrupt communication networks.
Through US2QC and the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, DARPA hopes to better understand the possibilities of quantum computing. Microsoft and PsiQuantum are taking different approaches to their designs, but the agency noted that the two companies are not in competition. Rather, DARPA wants to fund as many viable projects as it can and plans to choose more companies to participate in QBI this spring.
PsiQuantum, which was founded in 2015 with the goal of building and deploying “the first useful quantum computers,” will break ground on two quantum data centers in Australia and Chicago in the coming months.
“We must keep our foot on the accelerator and commit all attention and resources towards the path to scaling and unlocking this technology and its real-world impact across the United States’ most critical industries,” PsiQuantum’s CEO Jeremy O’Brien said in a statement this week.
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
