A report released Tuesday by a congressional commission warns that China is leading in quantum communication, which could be a national security risk for the US.
At least one CEO of a quantum networking company agrees. “We can’t afford to treat quantum technologies as a future ambition when our adversaries are already ahead in the quantum race,” Qunnect CEO Noel Goddard said in a statement to Semafor.
The commission’s report cited China’s central planning as the reason its quantum communication technology is so advanced. Because of the theoretical ability of quantum computers to break encryption, current versions of secure communication could be vulnerable. By using the principles of quantum mechanics, it’s possible to create networks that quantum computers can’t crack.
Goddard tied a lack of investment in quantum to a 2020 advisory by the National Security Agency that expressed doubts about one particular type of quantum networking, called quantum key distribution. While Qunnect doesn’t use QKD, she said the statement scared away investors from the entire space. “One way to accelerate development would be to revisit the NSA’s 2020 decision that discouraged investment in quantum networks before the technology matured.”
China’s focus on national security applications of quantum, though, could also be a weakness in its overall strategy, the report said. US companies, from Google to IBM to startups like PsiQuantum, have made huge breakthroughs in quantum computing.