US Energy Department offers $215 million to build quantum computer — OilPrice
The US Department of Energy is offering up to $215 million to American companies to develop a reliable quantum computer. As OilPrice reports, the funding is provided under the Quantum Genesis Q Competition.
Competition requirements
Competition participants must propose ways to deploy quantum computers with at least 100 logical qubits. Under the program’s terms, such systems must be capable of performing hundreds of millions of fault-tolerant operations and supporting scientific demonstration programs.
US Deputy Secretary of Energy for Science Dario Gil said that Quantum Genesis Q is intended to engage the commercial sector and combine cooperation and competition. According to him, the program is part of the broader US goal of leading the global race in quantum computing.
Testing quantum systems
At the same time, the department launched the Quantum High-Performance Computing Validation and Verification Testbed Lab Call program. It provides for collecting proposals from the network of US national laboratories to develop and apply the tools and expertise needed to verify the performance of fault-tolerant quantum computers.
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Potential energy applications
The article notes that, according to an assessment by the BCG Institute, mature quantum computing could in the future help address 20–40% of emissions in sectors where decarbonization is difficult, including steel and cement production. The technology is also being considered for carbon capture, green hydrogen and ammonia production, as well as battery development.
Quantum computing also requires electricity. At the same time, according to Semafor, citing a new BCG Institute report, its carbon footprint may be smaller than that of the artificial intelligence industry, as quantum systems are likely to be used for specialized tasks rather than as a universal technology.
IonQ President and CEO Peter Chapman previously told Forbes that quantum systems could eventually take over some AI tasks currently performed by graphics processors. He linked this claim to quantum computing’s potential advantage for certain types of data processing.
