Quantum computing received another federal endorsement on Monday as the Trump administration signed two executive orders fast-tracking its development.
The first order calls for development of "the first-ever quantum computer powerful enough for scientific research," which will be located in a national laboratory by 2028. The second accelerates the government's migration to post-quantum cryptography by 2031.
"When President Trump published a letter to me in early 2025, he prioritized quantum as a key industry for America to lead the world alongside AI and nuclear energy," said Michael Kratsios, President Donald Trump's top advisor on science and technology policy.
Language in the first order sounds vague, but the industry has clear benchmarks for performance. Developers are striving to achieve fault tolerance by the end of the decade, which means building a machine that can run smoothly even when its individual parts fail or experience disruption.
A senior White House official indicated on Monday that more details are on the way. The order directs the Energy Department to set technical specifications, which will likely include the number and quality of qubits -- the basic units of information in quantum computing.
Qubit count measures a computer's sheer scale, which isn't enough to judge performance. In fact, adding more qubits usually corresponds with a higher incidence of errors. The industry relies instead on fidelity, a measure of accuracy that tracks how closely a quantum operation matches its intended target.
For now, the most striking takeaway is the White House's 2028 deployment deadline, which is ahead of most company targets. IBM doesn't expect to launch a fault-tolerant supercomputer until 2029, while the rest of the quantum sector is pacing toward 2030 or later.
The order separately instructs agencies including NASA and the Commerce Department to develop plans for deploying quantum-enabled sensors and networks. The move only deepens the Commerce Department's involvement in the sector, building on a $2 billion funding package from last month that included ownership stakes in some companies.
A senior White House official clarified the order doesn't target specific companies. Even so, IonQ comes to mind as a company focused on networking, while the quantum sensing provision has one clear beneficiary: Colorado-based Infleqtion. The company went public in February, later giving the government a stake in its business in exchange for federal funding.
Beyond developing quantum sensors and atomic clocks for precision navigation -- technologies with clear national security implications -- the firm has also worked with NASA to deploy updated quantum hardware at the International Space Station.
The second order, on post-quantum cryptography, addresses a looming vulnerability: the rise of quantum computers powerful enough to unravel the public-key cryptography underpinning secure web browsing and blockchain networks.
In a white paper published in April, Google researchers warned that "Q-Day" -- the point where quantum systems can crack global encryption -- is approaching faster than expected. While general industry consensus places this threat sometime in the 2030s, Google believes a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could emerge by 2029 -- meaning the government may be acting too late.
Regardless, by stacking the orders on top of a funding package and unprecedented equity stakes, Washington has made it clear that quantum computing is a national priority. This endorsement is bound to lift nearly all stocks, as investors saw in May, when the quantum sector broadly rallied and IBM posted its best week in 24 years.
Whether this is a bid to capture the global market, a critical defense play, or both, one thing is certain. The quantum race is intensifying, and the federal government is no longer content to wait for the private sector to set the pace.