UK commitment, India, Quantinuum, Google and Microsoft error correct everything - The Week in Quantum Computing – June 30th 2025
Issue #242
Quick Recap
This week saw major institutional investment and strategic milestones in quantum technology, most notably the UK’s announcement of over £1 billion in funding, including £670 million dedicated to quantum computing applications. The National Quantum Computing Centre secured a long-term 10-year settlement, reflecting the UK’s ambition to surpass classical supercomputers by 2035. Similarly, India’s DRDO and IIT Delhi achieved a breakthrough in free-space quantum secure communication over 1 km, with a secure key rate of 240 bits/second. Google’s Quantum AI team achieved experimental color code error correction on superconducting qubits, highlighting improved logical qubit efficiency, while Andrew Tranter’s team demonstrated record 50-bit precision in quantum phase estimation on a 56-qubit ion-trap device—progressing precision benchmarks but still limited in scale. The world’s first photonic quantum computer was deployed to orbit by a university-led team, seeking to validate quantum edge hardware in extreme conditions. Quantinuum perfected magic states and demonstrated first set of error corrected quantum gates promising scalable fault tolerant universal quantum computing by 2029.
The Week in Quantum Computing
Unlocking new opportunities: Quantum Computing-as-a-Service for Industry Hubs and Associations
QCentroid is promoting its Quantum Computing-as-a-Service (QCaaS) platform as a tool for industry hubs and associations to gain early-mover advantage in 2025. The company argues QCaaS can help organizations like the Technology & Services Industry Association (TSIA) and Cloud Software Association (CSA) offer value-added benefits to members—including quantum-driven supply chain optimization, materials science revolution, and enhanced risk analysis for finance. Suggestions include subscription plans, educational programs, and consulting as potential revenue streams. The call to action: “The quantum computing revolution is already underway. Early adopters will have a significant competitive advantage.” With quantum computing's hype rising, QCaaS could foster experimentation, though the true industrial impact remains a work in progress this year.
Tech innovators backed to set up and scale up in Britain through Industrial Strategy - GOV.UK
On June 23, 2025, UK Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle announced over £1 billion in funding to scale up transformative technologies, notably allocating £670 million to accelerate quantum computing applications. The National Quantum Computing Centre becomes one of the first to receive a 10-year settlement, aiming for UK-developed quantum computers to surpass classical supercomputers by 2035. This strategic investment underscores intentions to drive breakthroughs in drug discovery and clean energy, integral to the country’s industrial renewal plan. Kyle emphasized, “It is on us in government to match that boldness by investing in our country’s immense potential.” As quantum hype continues, long-term state-backed commitments such as this set the groundwork for tangible advances amidst a competitive global landscape.
Paper: High-precision Quantum Phase Estimation on a Trapped-ion Quantum Computer
Andrew Tranter and colleagues report achieving 50-bit precision in quantum phase estimation of molecular hydrogen (8.9 × 10⁻¹⁶ hartree) using a 56-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer. Their new multi-ancilla technique enables such results with just 200 shots per experiment, yet remains limited to very small chemical systems (≤2 qubits). Including Trotter error, they achieved 32–36 bits—still vastly surpassing "chemical accuracy" (1.6 × 10⁻³ hartree) against full configuration interaction references. The authors position their high-precision protocol as a robust near-term benchmark, stating it “enables the execution of quantum chemistry circuits ... while producing meaningful results with limited shot counts.” In 2025, this underscores both progress in experimental precision and persistent scalability limits for quantum simulation.
A colorful quantum future
Google’s Quantum AI team, led by Alexandre Bourassa and Kevin Satzinger, has experimentally demonstrated “color codes” for quantum error correction on a superconducting qubit platform, reporting results in *Nature* (June 2025). Color codes offer a key potential advantage over surface codes: they can achieve the same error protection using fewer physical qubits per logical qubit due to their hexagonal, triangular geometry. Using their Willow chip, Google achieved a 1.56× suppression of logical error rates when scaling color code distance from 3 to 5—though this falls short of the 2.31× factor previously achieved with surface code. Google’s breakthroughs indicate that efficient logical qubit encoding may become practical as device performance continues to advance. “Triangles are smaller than squares, but at what cost?” the team asks, signaling focus on decoding challenges.
World’s first space-based quantum computer launches into orbit
On June 23, 2025, the world’s first photonic quantum computer was launched into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 (Transporter-14 mission), developed by an international team led by Philip Walther at the University of Vienna. The shoebox-sized device, assembled at the German Aerospace Center, aims to validate quantum hardware durability in orbit and enable edge computing for tasks like forest fire detection, potentially reducing data transmission needs and accelerating response times. Walther stated, “We now have the know-how to conduct further experiments in space, whether for fundamental quantum physics or practical applications.” This marks a crucial test for space-hardened quantum devices, with applications in climate monitoring, communications, and quantum research, reflecting the growing intersection of quantum technology and real-world deployments beyond Earth.
A Coordinated Implementation Roadmap for the Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography
On June 23, 2025, EU Member States, backed by the European Commission and Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), released their first coordinated roadmap for transitioning to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The roadmap aims to address vulnerabilities posed by quantum computing to current cryptographic standards with a synchronized, EU-wide adoption of PQC. Key recommendations involve establishing a specialized work stream with the NIS Cooperation Group and upgrading member states' cybersecurity protocols. The document stresses “a timely, comprehensive and coordinated transition,” highlighting the urgency as quantum computing edges closer to maturity. This marks a significant policy shift as Europe attempts to preemptively “counter the quantum threat to cryptography” before quantum computers render classical encryption obsolete.
Control of spin qubits at near absolute zero provides path forward for scalable quantum computing
Researchers have demonstrated advanced control of spin qubits at temperatures close to absolute zero, a development touted as "an essential step toward the scalability of quantum computers," according to Dr. Rachel Kim, lead scientist at Delft University of Technology. Operating spin qubits with high fidelity at millikelvin temperatures addresses critical thermal noise and coherence challenges, key for expanding qubit arrays. The team achieved this by engineering new cryogenic electronics integrated directly with the quantum chip, enabling precise manipulation with minimal error rates. This progress, reported by Delft in partnership with TU Munich and QuTech, could accelerate the integration of large-scale quantum processors—a vital bottleneck for practical quantum computation in 2025, as global efforts converge on overcoming physical scalability barriers.
Quantum Networking Pioneer Qunnect Raises $10 Million in Oversubscribed Series A Extension Spearheaded by Airbus Ventures with Participation from Cisco Investments
Qunnect, led by CEO Noel Goddard, has raised $10 million in an oversubscribed Series A extension led by Airbus Ventures, with Cisco Investments and Quantonation also participating. Notably, Qunnect has deployed quantum entanglement protocols over commercial fiber in New York City and Berlin, in partnership with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs. Their Carina quantum networking product suite operates at room temperature and in standard server racks, enabling scalable, real-world deployments across finance, energy, telecom, and defense industries. Aleem Rizvon (Cisco Investments) called Qunnect “poised to revolutionize security and communications.” According to Mehdi Namazi, Qunnect’s Chief Scientist, the company is now pushing toward “the era of quantum network utility.”
New chip could be the breakthrough the quantum computing industry has been waiting for
A team led by Prof. David Reilly at the University of Sydney Nano Institute has developed a custom CMOS chip that operates at cryogenic temperatures and can be integrated within 1 mm of spin qubits without introducing electrical noise or coherence loss. Published in Nature on June 25, this breakthrough addresses a critical bottleneck in scaling quantum processors, enabling the potential placement of millions of qubits and control systems on a single device. The chip consumes just 10 microwatts of power, a vital factor for low-temperature quantum computing. Co-author Kushal Das notes that “milli-kelvin control does not degrade the performance of single- and two-qubit quantum gates,” potentially opening the door for industry-wide adoption.
Quantinuum Overcomes Last Major Hurdle to Deliver Scalable Universal Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers by 2029
Quantinuum claims a major leap: its team has demonstrated the first fully fault-tolerant universal gate set with repeatable error correction, showing a tenfold improvement over previous industry benchmarks. Using their System Model H1-1, Quantinuum’s scientists perfected “magic state” production, achieving low error rates sufficient for real-world use—a milestone not yet realized beyond a few qubits in research settings. Two peer-reviewed papers document these advances. Quantinuum asserts this positions them to launch Apollo, a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer, by 2029. “A quantum computer that cannot implement ‘non-Clifford’ gates is not really a quantum computer,” they state in the release. With market expectations soaring, this achievement signals a shift from the NISQ era to practical, utility-scale quantum computing.
Hearing Wrap Up: U.S. Must Update Technology to Prepare for the Quantum Age - United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
At the June 2025 U.S. House Subcommittee hearing, experts including Marisol Cruz Cain (GAO), Denis Mandich (Qrypt), and Dr. Scott Crowder (IBM) underscored urgent calls for federal upgrades to IT and cybersecurity in anticipation of quantum computers’ threat to cryptographic security. Mandich stressed, “Progress in quantum computing is nonlinear and prone to sudden breakthroughs...delay is not just risky, it’s irrational,” warning of adversarial secrecy, especially from China. Crowder advocated for rapid adoption of post-quantum cryptography, noting that “broad adoption...can take more than a decade.” With NIST proposing to disallow quantum-vulnerable encryption by 2035, this hearing highlighted consensus: investment, swift legislative support, and workforce development are essential as global quantum competition accelerates.
Why Quantum Computers are not Cracking RSA Yet
Despite continued progress, quantum computers are still far from breaking RSA encryption in 2025. Leading researchers, including Scott Aaronson, stress that current devices lack the required number and quality of qubits—factoring a 2048-bit RSA key may demand millions of physical qubits with high fidelity, orders of magnitude beyond today’s prototypes. Institutions like IBM and Google are making incremental advances, but error rates and decoherence remain major barriers. MIT’s Vinod Vaikuntanathan summarizes: “We’re not even close to cracking RSA; this is not a tomorrow problem.” The quantum threat, while driving post-quantum cryptography research, remains theoretical—reminding the industry to temper expectations against quantum computing’s actual capabilities this year.
Large-scale commercial applications of quantum computing remain a distant promise, claims report
The MIT Quantum Index Report 2025, led by Jonathan Ruane and the Initiative on the Digital Economy at MIT, finds US quantum sector job demand has tripled since 2018 and that quantum-computing firms raised $1.6 billion in 2024. Despite these milestones, the report asserts that "large-scale commercial applications for quantum computing still remain far off." Corporations and universities account for 91% of quantum computing patents, with China leading in publication volume but US research exerting “greater impact and influence.” The report evaluates over 200 QPUs from 17 countries, concluding current hardware cannot yet meet commercial requirements. As quantum hype grows in 2025, pragmatic benchmarking—rather than investment figures—defines real progress.
Inauguration of PIAST-Q: A Leap for European Quantum Computing
The PIAST-Q quantum computer has been inaugurated at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, marking a major milestone for Poland and the European quantum ecosystem in 2025. Developed with a €20 million grant coordinated by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, PIAST-Q features a superconducting architecture and will be integrated into the EuroQCS network. The system aims to facilitate quantum research across multiple EU countries, bridging gaps in regional scientific infrastructure. As European states push for quantum sovereignty, this project underscores both ambition and the challenges of building competitive hardware on the continent.
Roadmap for the migration to post-quantum cryptography for the Government of Canada (ITSM.40.001) - Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, part of the Communications Security Establishment, released a roadmap on June 23, 2025, mandating federal migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Departments must develop initial migration plans by April 2026, report annually, and complete high-priority PQC transitions by 2031 and all others by 2035. The roadmap, coordinated with Treasury Board Secretariat and Shared Services Canada, guides federal agencies on stakeholder engagement, technical requirements, and lifecycle budgeting. The document references NIST's global PQC standards, noting: “Every organization managing information technology systems must migrate cyber security components to become quantum-safe.”