White House unveils $6B science package featuring quantum and AI programs
Federal officials announced a quantum computing challenge worth $215 million alongside $2.4 billion in AI commitments from tech firms, amid rising concerns about quantum computing risks to digital currency encryption.
Federal officials under the Trump administration have revealed more than $6 billion worth of scientific initiatives, featuring a quantum computing challenge valued at $215 million and pledges from industry totaling $2.4 billion for artificial intelligence computing resources and tools.
The Department of Energy announced Thursday that it has selected eight scientific use cases to inform the direction of its Quantum Genesis Q Competition, which makes available as much as $215 million in projected funding for businesses working to build fault-tolerant quantum computing systems.
Initially revealed in September, the program features both milestone-based financial awards and competitive incentive prizes designed for businesses that successfully demonstrate quantum systems with increasing levels of capability. The selected research focus areas encompass chemistry, materials science, subatomic physics and applied mathematics.
Progress in the development of fault-tolerant quantum computing technology could carry significant consequences for digital assets built on blockchain technology that depend on public-key cryptographic methods. On Sept. 23, a trio of European Union financial regulatory bodies issued a warning that the emergence of increasingly powerful quantum computing systems could compromise the cryptographic protections that secure both blockchains and financial transactions.
In the case of these cryptocurrency assets, quantum computers with adequate power levels could theoretically extract private keys from publicly visible public keys, creating opportunities for malicious actors to steal digital funds. It should be noted, however, that quantum computers with the capability to execute such attacks do not yet exist.
Federal officials also revealed that 11 major technology corporations have committed $2.4 billion worth of AI computing credits and tools to facilitate research efforts across 15 federal agencies. The pledges consist of $1 billion from Nvidia, $500 million from AMD, $200 million from OpenAI and $150 million each from Anthropic and Google.