The US Department of Energy (DoE) hopes to accelerate the development of quantum computing through a new initiative called the Quantum Genesis Q Competition. The program aims to produce a first-generation fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer (SRQC) by 2028.
The DoE anticipates up to $215 million in funding for the program, subject to congressional appropriations. The money is tied to milestones rather than handed out upfront. Up to ten awardees will be selected for the first phase, each eligible for up to $1.5 million. However, only $250,000 of that is available upfront; the rest is held back until awardees deliver a validated prototype about a year into the contest.
Successful prototype development allows participants to move into the next phase, where they can share a $100 million incentive pool in their bid to build a first-generation SRQC by fall 2028. The DoE’s illustrative benchmark for the prototype calls for at least 10 logical qubits capable of performing 10³ hard operations. For the SRQC, the benchmark rises to at least 100 logical qubits capable of performing 10⁵ hard operations with fault tolerance.
Logical qubits differ from physical qubits in that they group many physical qubits into a system that can correct for errors. While researchers have demonstrated fault-tolerant techniques, no one has yet built a fault-tolerant machine at the scale and scientific capability the DoE is targeting.
QuEra and its collaborators have demonstrated an architecture using up to 96 logical qubits, well beyond the DoE’s 10-logical-qubit prototype target and just shy of the 100-logical-qubit SRQC goal. QuEra also plans to introduce its Libra system by 2028 with more than 256 logical qubits and a logical error rate of 10⁻⁶, putting it in the same broad performance territory as the DoE’s targets, though the metrics are not directly interchangeable.
It remains unclear whether QuEra or other entities will compete. Commercially viable quantum computing has long been a goal that seems a few years away, and the DoE’s ambitious deadline does not guarantee the industry will meet it.