Witnesses at a Capitol Hill hearing today called for increased investment in quantum technology by the Federal government amid concerns about recent government science and technology cuts and the future of the National Quantum Initiative Act.
During a House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing on Wednesday, lawmakers and witnesses alike stressed the importance of reauthorizing research and development activities under the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA). The law approved by Congress in 2018 established a Federal program to accelerate quantum research and development.
“The global quantum race is more than academic – it is a competition for 21st century technological supremacy with major implications for America’s economic strength and our national security,” said committee Chairman Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, in his opening statements.
Witnesses and lawmakers also warned that competing in that quantum race will require investment from outside of the government – especially after recent science and technology funding cuts from the Trump administration.
“The administration claims to support quantum research funding in its budget proposal, but in practice, the president is actively cutting fields of research and STEM training programs that underpin our nation’s quantum industry,” said Ranking Member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
“I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think we can support quantum leadership while helping to destroy the workforce that feeds into the quantum industry,” she said.
The Trump administration’s budget proposal released last week slashed NSF’s current budget in half, while only maintaining current funding levels for programs related to artificial intelligence and quantum. The agency’s director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, also announced in late April his decision to step down from his role after five years.
Witnesses said that despite funding cuts, the United States will need to increase its funding and support of quantum-related activities or risk losing ground to adversaries.
“The efforts of individual companies alone are not sufficient for the United States to win the quantum race,” said Charles Tahan, a partner at Microsoft Quantum. “Governments around the world are making deep investments, and the United States must show leadership by continuing to invest in quantum … we face the real possibility that China can out-compete us if we do not.”
Pete Shadbolt, chief scientific officer and co-founder of PsiQuantum, said that a reauthorized NQIA needs to also focus bolstered funding into several discrete quantum-related areas.
“Increase funding for fundamental quantum research with particular emphasis on error correction, fault tolerance, and algorithm development,” he recommended.
Beyond Federal funding, Celia Merzbacher, executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, said that reauthorizing the NQIA can also spur increased investment from the private sector.
“The NQI can incentivize the private sector to make investments by using existing authorities such as prizes and advanced market commitments,” said Merzbacher. “These incentives can unleash substantial private capital toward applications in areas that are relevant to government missions, such as secure critical infrastructure and improved public health and safety.”
Tahan also noted that as quantum technology becomes more advanced, it will be up to governments to help educate and promote the workforce necessary to maintain it.
“Although we can do a lot to help with the workforce and training, we can’t do nearly enough, and it’s really dependent on not only local government, state government ecosystem, but the federal government,” said Tahan. “When I look to the next 10 years of people we need, it’s way more than we’re generating now.”
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., expressed concern about the United States losing that workforce talent to Europe following cuts in Federal research funding.
She also warned that while she strongly supports quantum research legislation, actions by the Trump administration to undermine Congress’s spending authority threaten the success of such efforts.
“I’m proud to be an elected official in this democracy who evangelizes and gets things done for STEM, for quantum and the like, but I can’t sit here in this hearing and which is hopefully going to lead to the passage of our quantum bill … and not call this out,” said Rep. Stevens.