Quantum News Nexus

I’m back from a sort of unplanned one-week break. Thanksgiving and various family distractions conspired to leave me little time to update QNN last week. I hope those of you who celebrated the US holiday(s) were able to find something fun to talk about over your turkey besides quantum stuff,–you know, like politics or the unrealized potential of certain siblings or cousins.

Here’s a recap of a big piece of recent news from last week:

The White House issued an Executive Order from President Trump inaugurating the Genesis Mission. Wait–is this the EO the quantum industry has been waiting for? Well, no. This was more of an AI order, though it did imply and briefly mention the role that quantum computing will play in the Genesis Mission.

Also Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, a well known quantum guy, was chosen to lead the initiative. 

The project aims to mobilize the US Department of Energy’s 17 National Laboratories, as well as parties and organizations from industry and academia, to build an integrated “closed loop” AI platform to accelerate energy innovation, scientific discovery, and the use of AI to strengthen national security and safety.

The release announcing Genesis Mission stated, “The platform will connect the world’s best supercomputers, AI systems, and next-generation quantum systems with the most advanced scientific instruments in the nation. Once complete, the platform will be the world’s most complex and powerful scientific instrument ever built. It will draw on the expertise of roughly 40,000 DOE scientists, engineers, and technical staff, alongside private sector innovators, to ensure that the United States leads and builds the technologies that will define the future.”

Gil said in a statement, “The Genesis Mission marks a defining moment for the next era of American science. We are linking the nation’s most advanced facilities, data, and computing into one closed-loop system to create a scientific instrument for the ages, an engine for discovery that doubles R&D productivity and solves challenges once thought impossible.”

Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Brandon Williams, added “The Genesis Mission represents the next great chapter and an unparallelled opportunity for America’s scientific and national security leadership. Building on decades of innovation and collaboration across our national laboratories, NNSA will leverage AI, quantum computing, and advanced data analytics that will strengthen our deterrents and ensure the United States maintains an unmatched strategic edge over our adversaries…”

Anyway, add this to a pile of recent hints that the federal government is taking both AI and quantum more seriously, and figuring out how to leverage both technologies for national interests and ambitions. The Trump administration is really trying to harness (or maybe just get a handle on) both AI and quantum, and it seems like at least part of the goal is to reassure the ecosystems around both AI and quantum that a lot of bubble talk isn’t about to ruin their day.

Whether or not we will get a more quantum-specific EO as part of this whole effort remains to be seen.

Image by freepik.

Quantum News Nexus is a new site from freelance writer and editor Dan O’Shea that covers quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, quantum-safe security, and more. You can find him on X @QuantumNewsGuy and doshea14@gmail.com.