US vs China in quantum

Extracted Attributes

• Core Concepts

  Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Advantage, Quantum Supremacy, Quantum Decoherence, Error Correction

• US Lead Areas

  Quantum Computing Patents, Logical Qubit Development, Private Sector Engagement, Highly Cited Quantum Computing Papers

• Key Technology

  Quantum Computing

• Influence of AI

  Potential to accelerate progress in quantum computing

• China Lead Areas

  Quantum Communication Patents, Overall Quantum Papers (2019-2023), Public Investment

• Fundamental Unit

  Qubit

• Major Challenges

  Quantum Decoherence, Error Correction, Building stable/reliable qubits

• Primary Competitors

  United States, China

• US Quantum Startups

  ~300

• Strategic Importance

  National security, Breaking encryption, Scientific simulations, Military applications

• US Quantum Investors

  ~320

• Claimed US Lag (2024)

  A decade behind China in quantum computing (Theresa Melvin, Aerospike CTO)

• Key Quantum Phenomena

  Superposition, Entanglement, Quantum Tunneling

• China Quantum Startups

  ~30

• China Quantum Investors

  ~50

• Hardware Implementations

  Superconductors, Josephson Junction, Ion Traps

• US Private Quantum Funding

  $3.7 billion

• China Private Quantum Funding

  $255 million

• US Public Quantum Investment (projected)

  $4 billion (as of 2023)

• US Federal Quantum Science Funding (2021)

  $700 million

• China Public Quantum Investment (projected)

  $15 billion (as of 2023)

Timeline

• John Martinis published his landmark paper on macroscopic quantum mechanics, laying experimental foundation for quantum computing. (Source: related_documents)

  1985

• Google's quantum lab in Santa Barbara, led by John Martinis, achieved 'Quantum Supremacy' on a specific task. (Source: summary, related_documents)

  2019

• China published more highly cited quantum papers than any other country, primarily driven by quantum communications research. (Source: web_search_results)

  2019-2023

• US federal funding for quantum science amounted to just over $700 million. (Source: web_search_results)

  2021

• China's announced government investments in quantum technology reached $15.3 billion, significantly exceeding US investments of $3.8 billion. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023

• During a TechNet Indo-Pacific panel, Theresa Melvin, CTO for HPC and AI at Aerospike, stated that the United States is a decade behind China in quantum computing. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-10-22

• John Martinis is recognized as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. (Source: related_documents)

  2025

Quantum computing

A quantum computer is a (real or theoretical) computer that uses quantum mechanical phenomena in an essential way: it exploits superposed and entangled states, and the intrinsically non-deterministic outcomes of quantum measurements, as features of its computation. Quantum computers can be viewed as sampling from quantum systems that evolve in ways that may be described as operating on an enormous number of possibilities simultaneously, though still subject to strict computational constraints. By contrast, ordinary ("classical") computers operate according to deterministic rules. (A classical computer can, in principle, be replicated by a classical mechanical device, with only a simple multiple of time cost. On the other hand (it is believed), a quantum computer would require exponentially more time and energy to be simulated classically.) It is widely believed that a quantum computer could perform some calculations exponentially faster than any classical computer. For example, a large-scale quantum computer could break some widely used public-key cryptographic schemes and aid physicists in performing physical simulations. However, current hardware implementations of quantum computation are largely experimental and only suitable for specialized tasks. The basic unit of information in quantum computing, the qubit (or "quantum bit"), serves the same function as the bit in ordinary or "classical" computing. However, unlike a classical bit, which can be in one of two states (a binary), a qubit can exist in a linear combination of two states known as a quantum superposition. The result of measuring a qubit is one of the two states given by a probabilistic rule. If a quantum computer manipulates the qubit in a particular way, wave interference effects amplify the probability of the desired measurement result. The design of quantum algorithms involves creating procedures that allow a quantum computer to perform this amplification. Quantum computers are not yet practical for real-world applications. Physically engineering high-quality qubits has proven to be challenging. If a physical qubit is not sufficiently isolated from its environment, it suffers from quantum decoherence, introducing noise into calculations. National governments have invested heavily in experimental research aimed at developing scalable qubits with longer coherence times and lower error rates. Example implementations include superconductors (which isolate an electrical current by eliminating electrical resistance) and ion traps (which confine a single atomic particle using electromagnetic fields). Researchers have claimed, and are widely believed to be correct, that certain quantum devices can outperform classical computers on narrowly defined tasks, a milestone referred to as quantum advantage or quantum supremacy. These tasks are not necessarily useful for real-world applications.

Web Search Results

• Quantum - SCSP

  Government funding shows China’s strategic prioritization of quantum technology, with projected investments of $15 billion compared to the U.S.’s $4 billion.(#_ftn9) However, when including private sector investment of the two countries, the gap narrows significantly. The United States has secured approximately $3.7 billion in private quantum funding versus China’s $255 million.(#_ftn10) ### Wildcards [...] The United States leads decisively in private sector engagement, with approximately 300 quantum startups compared to China’s 30, and 320 quantum investors versus China’s 50.(#_ftn7) This vibrant private ecosystem also complements research efforts from U.S. public research institutions. China’s quantum development remains heavily centralized around state institutions, like the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), though it has produced notable achievements through private [...] United States Takes Early Lead in Logical Qubit Development While China Accelerates Investment. The race for logical qubits represents a critical metric for quantum computing progress. While physical qubit counts continue to grow, the ability to implement error correction and achieve reliable quantum operations through logical qubits will likely determine practical quantum computing capabilities. The United States currently leads in this crucial area, highlighted by Google’s December

• U.S. Trails China by a Decade in Quantum Computing

  The panel "AI/ML as a Warfighting Advantage" addresses the audience at TechNet Indo-Pacific on October 22, 2024. Credit: Diego Laje, AFCEA. The United States is a decade behind China in quantum computing. “China is about a decade ahead of us on quantum, and that's specifically because they never fought a war on terror,” said Theresa Melvin, chief technology officer for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI) at Aerospike, a technology company. [...] A Chinese daily recently published") that scientists had harnessed computing power to break military-grade encryption. While this claim has been later debunked, it is widely recognized that Beijing has an advantage over the United States in this field.

• The Urgency of the Quantum Computing Race With China

  On the other hand, the Chinese quantum sector is concentrated in large-scale government-funded laboratories, with subsidies adding up to more than $15 billion%20%3E%2415%20billion). Analysts estimate that this is at least four times as much as the U.S. quantum industry spends domestically per year. It’s a national security imperative that the U.S. reach supremacy in quantum computing and other technologies before China, just as Oppenheimer did in his day with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. [...] J. Robert Oppenheimer successfully exploited the revolutionary discovery of quantum physics to provide decisive technological superiority to the United States. In an echo of the past, the U.S. is now in a race with China to unlock the full potential of quantum technology. Viewers of “Oppenheimer” will recognize parallels in the current contest over a critical technology with serious military ramifications. [...] The race for quantum supremacy is a struggle between private free enterprise and state-directed communism. America has about 180 private firms pursuing quantum computing, mostly on their own dime. Federal funding on quantum science amounted to just over $700 million in 2021, spread out over a host of programs.

• Quick Take: Quantum Technology Global Competition

  In developing new technologies, resources count. Today’s graph from McKinsey and Company shows comparative global public investments in quantum technology for 2023. It maps announced government investments by China at $15.3 billion, eclipsing U.S. investments of $3.8 billion. To begin with, how seriously should we be taking the aggregated information reported in this graph? [...] Wessner: I think you raised a very crucial point about the private world, because that is the ace in the American system. At the same time, we need to recognize that U.S. private expenditures tend to be more downstream of public R&D funding, focused on market applications, which is a strength. We do spend more on basic and early-stage R&D proportionally out of our public R&D budgets compared with China. China does the opposite, spending more public funds on applied research. This makes the

• China's long view on quantum tech has the US and EU playing ...

  For patents, the picture is similar. China leads the world in quantum communication patents but lags the US in patents for quantum computing.22 In 2023, the European Patent Office also found that while quantum computing patents in China are increasing, they still trail the US significantly.23 This still likely overestimates Chinese output, as Chinese scientists are incentivized to apply for more patents than their international counterparts. [...] ## China still lacks research communication China now publishes more quantum papers than the US, driven mostly by its quantum communications research (see Graphic below). China published more highly cited papers than any other country between 2019 and 2023. For quantum computing, the US is still in the lead.20 The US government focuses much less on quantum communication.21 Exhibit 3 [...] As opposed to other countries like the US and Canada where most quantum progress is driven by private companies like IBM, Google, DWave, Rigetti and IonQ, much of China’s quantum technology progress and funding comes from the government. China’s public spending on quantum is four times higher than the US and China accounts for over half of the estimated global public investment in quantum technology.26 This is true both in science and deployment.25