Nextgov/FCW - Emerging Tech

White House to host quantum tech summit with industry Tuesday

Alexandra Kelley — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:39:00 -0400

The White House will host a summit with industry on Tuesday dedicated to innovation in quantum information sciences and technologies, featuring remarks from tech policy and agency leadership within the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The White House Summit on Quantum Innovation will begin at 11 a.m. on July 7 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, per a document obtained by Nextgov/FCW. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and National Quantum Coordination Office Director Brad Blakestand are slated to deliver a keynote that provides updates on the administration’s quantum agenda and on research and development.

Leaders from relevant government agencies — including Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Paul Dabbar, Department of Defense Under Secretary for Research Emil Michael, Department of Energy Under Secretary Darío Gil, National Science Foundation Acting Director Brian Stone and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ethan Klein — are scheduled to discuss how their departments are delivering on commitments to quantum innovation.

Other panelists who will cover industry insights, supply chain and the workforce are listed “TBA” as of late Monday afternoon.

Attendees will primarily represent the U.S. quantum information science and technology industry.

The summit follows President Donald Trump’s two recent executive orders aimed at strengthening the U.S. quantum technology research and development ecosystem and spurring the migration of critical networks to a post-quantum cryptographic standard.

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IBM, Oak Ridge and Cleveland Clinic unveil quantum-powered novel fusion energy research

Alexandra Kelley — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:49:00 -0400

IBM, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Cleveland Clinic on Monday unveiled the first known molecular simulation created with the help of quantum computing, an achievement that contributes to goals outlined in the Trump administration's Genesis Mission.

Using IBM’s 156-qubit Heron quantum processor chip and ORNL’s supercomputing infrastructure, scientists developed nine molecular configurations of a liquid salt that has the potential to produce tritium, a necessary fuel for fusion energy production. The simulation contributes to Trump administration goals set out in the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and represents a new step in the near-term application of quantum information systems.

“We're going to see quantum applications accelerate because of this type of work,” IBM Director of Research Jay Gambetta told Nextgov/FCW.

The molecular models in the research simulate interactions between tritium, a rare isotope of hydrogen that is key in producing fusion energy, and atom clusters in molten salt to support tritium breeding and management. Cultivating a robust supply of tritium and stabilizing it has been a challenge for experts working to deploy fusion energy as a cleaner power source, as the material is extremely rare in nature. Fostering nuclear power is a major goal for the Trump administration’s Genesis Mission.

Tom Beck, the section head of science engagement at ORNL, told Nextgov/FCW the entire effort was aimed at demonstrating the research and development capabilities within the Genesis Mission initiative.

“Essentially, the problem of tritium is … making these reactors stable,” Gambetta said. “With quantum computers you can start to simulate it.”

Beyond quantum, the process also leveraged a hybrid computing system, which draws on components of both classical and quantum computers, to achieve these advanced molecular simulations. While this feat isn’t considered quantum supremacy — where the quantum computing system completely outpaces classical computers — it demonstrates the benefit to merging today’s quantum information technology with artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Integral to this research’s success was a data processing technique previously pioneered by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic that resulted in similar molecular modeling. The fragmenting of large volumes of scientific data proved effective in simulating biochemically-relevant protein complexes, a task classical computers struggled to process as the molecules grew in size.

“What's really cool is [researchers] use some AI methods to come up with the fragments from the data that experts at Oak Ridge have, and then [researchers] fed those into a quantum-plus-classical simulation where they used our quantum computer, and then the supercomputers the DOE at Oak Ridge has access to, to iterate on this sort of hybrid algorithm that allowed them to calculate these large fragments accurately,” Gambetta said.

With quantum computing technologies still struggling to scale to a fault-tolerant level, their addition to other powerful computing systems is part of IBM’s focus in spearheading quantum-supported supercomputing as a more feasible application of current quantum information systems to ongoing problems.

“Think of it as taking the latest, best quantum computers, but more importantly injecting them as a subroutine in large HPC clusters to look at problems of interest,” Gambetta said.

Hybrid computing architectures have captured industry interest as a practical and more market-ready solution for the delivery of quantum computing capabilities.

IBM is not the only company betting on the combination of quantum and classical computing solutions. In 2024, Microsoft released Azure Quantum, which uses its own quantum computing technologies as well as those from partners Atom Computing and Quantinuum to offer customers access to quantum computing capabilities via its Azure cloud architecture.

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Energy expects Genesis Mission will double R&D productivity in coming decade

Alexandra Kelley — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:39:00 -0400

The Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission aims to double the productivity and impact of the U.S. research and development engine within the next 10 years, the agency’s undersecretary for science, Darío Gil, said at a Monday evening AWS event. It’s part of a larger focus on recharacterizing the purpose of artificial intelligence adoption.

Genesis represents a sweeping national initiative with a goal of advancing the U.S.’s scientific research enterprise with advanced technologies. Launched in November 2025 via executive order, it aims to leverage Energy’s national laboratory system, the best AI, high-performance computing and quantum information systems across different scientific domains.

“Ultimately, we seek to double the productivity and impact of America's trillion dollar-a-year R&D engine within a decade,” Gil said, adding that although the country’s 17 national laboratories have “some of the finest high-performance computing systems in the world,” maintaining U.S. leadership in the global scientific and technological landscape requires newer systems.

“We need a new generation of AI supercomputers that complement the high-precision, high-performance simulation environments that the [Energy] department is just world renowned for,” he said. Gil specified that the Genesis Mission looks to leverage agentic frameworks in particular to connect powerful classical computers and future cryptographically-relevant quantum computers to accelerate scientific discovery.

It's an approach he characterized as “an internet of science.”

The measurable outcomes by which to grade the Genesis Mission’s progress are myriad, though Gil listed the creation of scientifically-tailored frontier models that can handle advanced scientific workloads — such advancing work in protein folding — and support advancements in national security and economic development as paramount.

“We've constructed a portfolio of national science and technology challenges spanning energy discovery science and national security, and we want to solve problems faster and more impactfully than before,” he said.

Gil explained that scientifically-focused, AI-fueled work that can deliver meaningful life improvements is part of how AI should be conceptualized moving forward in lieu of fixating on negative societal impacts.

“I think the industry has not done a wonderful job telling the AI story, and we have a lot of headwinds as a result,” he said. “We’ve got…to bring it back to purpose. ‘What are we trying to solve with this?’”

Gil said the updated messaging around AI should encourage future scientists, engineers and other professionals to want to participate in the evolution of the technology.

“[To] the next generation of American scientists and engineers…we gotta give an elegant message that we need more of them, and we need all of them, and we need to have a renewed commitment towards American students entering science and engineering,” Gil said.

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OMB issues instructions for agency migration to quantum-proof encryption

Alexandra Kelley — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:34:00 -0400

The Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum to federal agencies on Wednesday outlining the steps they need to take to migrate select government systems to post-quantum cryptography, or PQC, an encryption standard intended to withstand the anticipated code-breaking capacity of a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

The memo expands on requirements outlined in President Donald Trump’s June 22 executive order on government PQC migration. The guidance has been in the works for approximately a year, with a draft version first reported in July 2025 by Nextgov/FCW.

Multiple aspects from the draft memo made it into the final version, such as requirements for federal agencies to conduct inventories of their digital networks. The final version placed priority on migrating legacy systems and high-value assets.

Wednesday's final guidance also requires agencies to report their inventorying efforts as a part of required PQC migration plans. These plans must be delivered to OMB and the Office of the National Cyber Director within 120 days of the memo being published. In keeping with the draft, these timelines are intended to be phased, spanning efforts to plan, discover, pilot and eventually fully migrate digital networks to PQC.

The memo also instructs agencies to ensure that their vendor-supplied software meets PQC requirements by referencing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s “Product Categories for Technologies That Use Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards” lists.

While vendors are not explicitly required to submit PQC migration timelines like agencies are, agency program offices will need to ensure that their requirements for software vendors include PQC-readiness and cryptographic agility. Agency migration plans must also include an individual protocol for “third-party coordination.”

Automation remains central to inventory and migration management.

“Given the scale and complexity of Federal IT environments, manual approaches to discovery and management of cryptography are often insufficient,” the memo reads. “Agencies should use automation when feasible and appropriate to achieve a comprehensive and continuously updated understanding of their cryptographic posture.”

Agencies have until 2035 to reach the full migration phase of their PQC transition.

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Senator plans to propose quantum initiative reauthorization as part of NDAA

Alexandra Kelley — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:46:00 -0400

Upper chamber lawmakers are angling to fit reauthorization for one of the government’s biggest quantum efforts into the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., is leading the effort to offer reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act as an amendment to the NDAA, his spokesperson confirmed to Nextgov/FCW.

The National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law in 2018 by President Donald Trump during his first term in office. It expired in 2023, and Young sponsored the reauthorization of the bill alongside Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., earlier this year, with a full floor vote still pending in the upper chamber. A House version is still awaiting committee vote.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a longtime champion of funding quantum information sciences and technology work, outfitted the NQIA reauthorization bill currently under consideration in the Senate with three new amendments that address different aspects of the QIST ecosystem during committee hearings. Young would like to see the bill that includes those amendments make it into the NDAA, his spokesperson said.

Plans for the NQIA reauthorization follow Trump’s signature of two landmark executive orders on Monday, accelerating federal efforts in quantum information science and tech research as well as network migration to a post-quantum cryptographic standard.

Both the House and Senate versions of the NQIA reauthorization feature some defense provisions, with both versions of the bill directing the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to support research that measures the comparative performance and progress of quantum technologies. Both versions also focus on fortifying supply chains for quantum technologies and expanding partnerships with the private sector.

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Energy unveils plan to create scientifically-relevant quantum computer

Alexandra Kelley — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:58:00 -0400

Following the signing of two landmark executive orders by President Donald Trump on Monday, the Energy Department unveiled a new mission focused on delivering a fault-tolerant quantum computer for scientific research.

The Quantum Genesis mission, announced on Tuesday, seeks to deploy the first cryptographically-relevant quantum computer to support U.S. leadership in both the quantum technology and scientific research landscapes.

While quantum computing efforts have received major attention in the public and private sectors in recent years, bringing a truly viable quantum computer to operational capability is extremely difficult and requires a combination of robust hardware and software that can handle its specific type of processing units — known as qubits — to generate meaningful outputs.

Through Quantum Genesis, the government is hoping to beat adversarial nations in the race to develop and deploy a quantum computer that can handle advanced calculations and data processing through new research resources.

“Scientific discovery is one of the most powerful drivers of human flourishing, and quantum computing has the potential to dramatically accelerate that discovery,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “Through Quantum Genesis, we are bringing together America’s National Laboratories, universities, and private sector innovators to develop and deploy the world’s first scientifically relevant fault-tolerant quantum computing capability. America led the last computing revolution, and we intend to lead the quantum age as well.”

To reach a level of basic functionality, quantum computers will need robust error correction methods to accurately process data. The Genesis Mission is looking to develop strong logical qubits, or groupings of error-corrected physical qubits, to bring its computer to life. Alongside the announcement, the agency released a request for information and is looking to develop a “scientifically-relevant” fault-tolerant quantum computer that operates on 150-250 logical qubits by 2028.

Quantum Genesis also creates a new user facility that offers U.S. scientists and engineers access to current quantum computing systems of various modalities and architectures to further spur research and development in the field. This facility will complement Energy’s current exascale computing infrastructure to bring artificial intelligence and high-performance computing tools into research efforts.

The program’s final effort will also call on Energy to conduct “targeted research and development” to identify applications of scientifically-relevant quantum computing, with participants coming from academia, the national laboratory apparatus and industry to define and advance high-impact use cases for quantum computers.

“Just as telescopes allowed us to explore the cosmos, advanced quantum computers will enable us to peer into the fundamental laws of nature with unparalleled precision," Energy Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said in a statement. "This transformative opportunity for scientific discovery, deeply intertwined with advancements in AI enabled by the Genesis Mission, will be powered by DOE’s unique system of User Facilities, research centers, and partnerships that have laid the foundation for this next era of discovery.”

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Trump signs 2 orders to prepare the US for a quantum future

Alexandra Kelley — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:06:00 -0400

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Monday that seek to accelerate the U.S. quantum ecosystem with the goal of both safeguarding digital systems and capturing the benefits from quantum computing advancements.

As Nextgov/FCW first reported, the orders address different aspects of the burgeoning quantum information sciences and technology landscape: prioritizing the creation and installation of a cryptographically-relevant quantum computer that can perform basic operations, and kickstarting government migrations to a post-quantum cryptographic standard ahead of the advent of a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

“These two executive orders, which pair innovation and security, will address those issues as we move forward,” National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said during the signing ceremony on Monday. “Innovation and security have to be balanced.”

Trump said the research and development-focused order — titled “Ushering In The Next Frontier Of Quantum Innovation” — launches “a national effort” to produce a scientifically-relevant quantum computer and further develop advanced quantum-powered sensors as the U.S. seeks to lead in the broader QIST field and in scientific research.

The directive establishes the Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science Effort to foster the development of a quantum computer for scientific research, to be located in a Department of Energy facility. Other provisions support quantum computing supply chains, foster workforce development and explore private sector and international partnerships.

The order notably leverages the U.S. intelligence agency apparatus by expanding the Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team to study adversarial threats to the domestic QIST ecosystem.

The second order, titled “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” tasks multiple federal offices — including the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency — with overhauling federal cryptography to a quantum-resilient standard.

Post-quantum cryptography aims to fortify digital networks against the security risks presented by a fault-tolerant quantum computer by swapping out classical encryption for a quantum-resilient update. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has helmed the effort to identify and test new encryption algorithms that are likely to stand up to quantum capabilities.

The directive orders that the code for key establishment and digital signatures within critical infrastructure and high-impact environments be updated to a quantum-standard by 2030 and 2031, respectively. Nextgov/FCW first reported the likely inclusion of this detail.

Garfield Jones, the executive vice president of Strategy and Research at QuSecure, said the launch of an executive order focused on post-quantum cryptography is an "unambiguous signal" for the universal need to migrate digital networks ahead of time.

"The 2030 deadline for key establishment is a tangible compliance deadline, and the gap between where most organizations are today and where they need to be is significant,” Jones said in a statement to Nextgov/FCW. “Agencies and contractors that haven't started a cryptographic inventory are already behind. The organizations that move now will have options. The ones that wait will find themselves managing a crisis.”

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, who was present at the White House during the signing ceremony, said IBM “applauds” the Trump administration for launching both orders.

“Sound policy, sustained investment and public-private partnership are vital to sustaining U.S. quantum leadership and technological resilience,” Krishna said in a statement shared with Nextgov/FCW. “Today's Executive Orders bring that same spirit of policy and investment working in lockstep to the national stage.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright described quantum computing as the third pillar that will join artificial intelligence and high-performance computing powered by advanced semiconductors as the foundation for future computing technology.

“This is tricky. We're not there yet. We're close, but with this executive order and this coordinated effort, we will have scientifically relevant — meaning error-corrected — quantum computing during this administration. The impacts of it will be tremendous,” Wright said during the ceremony.

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White House expected to direct intelligence agencies to protect quantum research from foreign threats

Alexandra Kelley and David DiMolfetta — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:22:00 -0400

A pending executive order expected this week will task the FBI and intelligence community with better protecting the nation’s quantum research from foreign spying, according to four people familiar with the matter and a readout viewed by Nextgov/FCW.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to communicate non-public details about the forthcoming order.

Two of the people said the order may be ready as soon as Monday, while one of the people said two quantum-related orders could be signed, with one targeting the broader quantum information sciences and technology research enterprise and the other bolstering post-quantum cryptography migration efforts.

The order with counterintelligence directives would also task the Energy and Defense departments to build and host a quantum computer for scientific research. Additionally, the Commerce Department would be told to draft plans for expanding federal investment in quantum computing companies, as Nextgov/FCW previously reported.

The instructions for the FBI and other intelligence agencies suggest officials expect foreign adversaries like China to increasingly target sensitive U.S. quantum research as the emerging technology becomes more prevalent in economic competition and national security discussions.

The directive also places quantum research security inside the broader race against “Q-day,” when powerful quantum computers could break today’s widely used encryption standards that protect government secrets, financial transactions and other sensitive data around the world. There is no firm Q-day deadline, but many experts place the risk in the 2030s.

“Quantum is exactly the kind of target foreign intelligence services prioritize. It is a small field, the talent is concentrated in a handful of universities and companies, and the work sits at the seam between fundamental research and national and economic security,” said Michael McLaughlin, a former U.S. Cyber Command official who served as chief of counterintelligence and human intelligence in the Cyber National Mission Force.

“That combination of extremely high value and a small, open community is what the counterintelligence community calls a soft target. Our adversaries do not need to break encryption to win here. They can recruit a researcher, co-opt a supplier, or use private equity to buy a lab and acquire a decade of progress at a fraction of the cost,” he said. “Treating quantum research as a counterintelligence priority is long overdue.”

Stronger anti-espionage protections, McLaughlin added, should include insider-threat and personnel security programs for academic and commercial labs; deeper reviews of equipment, software, vendors and people with access; closer scrutiny of foreign investment and talent-recruitment programs; and faster threat-sharing with universities and companies.

Anne Neuberger, who served as a deputy national security advisor under then-President Joe Biden, also argued in a June 17 Foreign Affairs analysis that the U.S. and allied intelligence agencies need to prioritize protecting private sector quantum property from espionage.

Advanced quantum computers would be important for national intelligence agencies like the NSA because they could eventually help break certain encryption systems and give the U.S. new ways to solve complex computing problems.

Its national security value also extends beyond encryption. The Army said this month that its researchers demonstrated a new quantum sensor that could help soldiers detect radio signals and better understand where they are coming from.

Conversely, adversary possession of a cryptographically relevant quantum device could allow foreign governments to decrypt protected U.S. communications, expose intelligence sources and compromise sensitive government or military data.

Researchers and officials have frequently warned of adversaries conducting “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, collecting encrypted data today with the expectation that future quantum tools may allow them to read it years later.

During his first term, President Donald Trump signed the National Quantum Initiative Act, a 2018 law that helped organize the federal government’s quantum research push. Since key parts of it lapsed in 2023, Congress has been angling to reauthorize its provisions.

The expected order signals to some in the private sector that the U.S. government sees quantum computing as a strategic industry worth backing, and that federal support could help accelerate new uses for the technology.

“Washington made two things clear. America intends to build the most capable quantum systems in the world, and it intends to defend the infrastructure and data those systems can break,” Matt Cimaglia, the founder of investment firm Quantum Coast Capital, told Nextgov/FCW. “Capital follows that kind of clarity. When the government puts real demand behind the best technology and sets hard deadlines to protect the country, private investors know exactly where to commit.”

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Lynx supercomputing cluster enters production at Lawrence Livermore

Alexandra Kelley — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:42:00 -0400

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has a newly operational supercomputing cluster, joining its current network of delivering on national nuclear security modeling and simulation — part of the lab’s broader efforts to lead in advanced modeling applications.

The Lynx supercomputing cluster, composed of 952 nodes, runs on the CN5000 networking architecture from Cornelis and Dell PowerEdge servers. Both systems are focused on reducing congestion in handling artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. Intel Xeon processors are also part of Lynx and support processing reliability.

The CN5000 networking system is designed to connect multiple computers together, facilitating large volumes of data processing for demanding computational workloads. Cornelis designed the CN5000 to serve as an interconnecting networking device, compatible with leading chip hardware from NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD.

Lynx was announced in July 2025, with the supercomputing cluster focused on adding to the U.S.’s stockpile stewardship management missions along with broader national security operations. In this vein, Lynx contributes to the ongoing work of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program.

“We are excited to see the Cornelis CN5000 400G network come to life at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,” Matt Leininger, the senior principal HPC strategist at LLNL said in a press release. “The collaboration between NNSA’s ASC program and Cornelis has been rooted in a shared commitment to advancing high-performance computing. Lynx reflects the results of that public-private R&D investment and will support the modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities that underpin the modern NNSA complex.”

In a separate interview with Nextgov/FCW, Leininger said Lynx will handle some classified workloads, but may also dovetail into more data-intensive topics.

“The bread and butter [of Lynx’s uses] will be our HPC, but we're also, of course, trying to figure out how we can use AI and all its different flavors and forms, and integrate that into our workloads,” he said.

Lynx joins LLNL’s — and the world’s — fastest supercomputer, El Capitan, in Lawrence Livermore's supercomputer apparatus that handles stockpile analytics and work.

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In apparent first, Navy drone boat rescues helicopter crew downed at sea

Thomas Novelly — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 23:48:00 -0400

A U.S. Navy drone boat rescued the crew of an Army helicopter downed near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening,an apparent first for the U.S. military.

The AH-64 Apache went down around 7:30 p.m. ET near the coast of Oman while “patrolling international waters,” U.S. Central Command officials said in a Tuesday news release. Roughly two hours later, a Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by 5th Fleet’s drone-focused Task Force 59 arrived on the scene, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson.

The Corsair is a 24-foot robot boat made by Texas-based defense tech firm Saronic. Task Force 59 began operating the boats in March.

The boat picked up the crew members and transported them to another location on the water. They were then retrieved by a helicopter for further transport, and are currently in stable condition, Hawkins said.

The rescue effort included help from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the 82nd Airborne Division, and unnamed Air Force and Navy units, the press release said.

Task Force 59 has been the Navy’s half-decade-long effort to integrate AI and unmanned systems into Middle East waters. The unit is under the 5th Fleet’s vast area of responsibility, which includes the Suez Canal, the Strait of Bab al Mandeb, and the Strait of Hormuz—which remains mostly closed to commercial shipping as the U.S. war in Iran stretches into more than 100 days.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper, who oversees U.S. military operations in Iran, previously led 5th Fleet.

Task Force has adopted mostly a contractor-owned and -operated acquisition model to field a wide variety of drones used during exercises in the region.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to apply lessons learned as we increase our operational capabilities through ‘manned-unmanned teaming’ concepts,” Cooper told Defense One in 2023.

Apache woes

It’s not immediately clear what led the Apache to be “lost at sea,” CENTCOM said in a news release. Citing U.S. officials, CNN reported that the helicopter was hit by an Iranian Shahed drone.

President Donald Trump said on social media that “the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters” and added the U.S. must “respond to this attack.”

Since March, there have been at least three stateside Apache mishaps and one sudden landing overseas. Last month, Defense One exclusively reported that the Army was investigating a transmission problem on some of its AH-64E model helicopters.

Crew members can “experience an internal failure resulting in loss of accessory gearbox drive, which can result in loss of tail rotor thrust, electrical power, and hydraulics,” an April internal memo reviewed by Defense One said.

Service officials declined to say how many helicopters were affected by the transmission problem.

Hawkins told Defense One the cause of Tuesday’s Apache rescue is under investigation.

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Commerce commits to funding incentives with 9 companies to spur quantum development

Alexandra Kelley — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:34:00 -0400

The Commerce Department signed letters of intent with nine quantum computing and quantum foundry companies to provide funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to support innovation in quantum computing.

Announced on Thursday, $2.013 billion in CHIPS funding will go to IBM, GlobalFoundries, Atom Computing, Diraq, D-Wave, Infleqtion, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum and Rigetti to spur different components of the burgeoning quantum computing ecosystem.

IBM and GlobalFoundries will receive $1 billion and $375 million, respectively, to build quantum tech-specific foundries. IBM will focus on manufacturing quantum-grade superconducting wafers, while GlobalFoundries will be tasked with scaling components of leading quantum computing architectures and modalities, such as superconducting circuits, photonics, trapped ions and more.

The remaining seven companies will use Commerce’s funding to improve their proprietary quantum computing technologies and modalities. Infleqtion, for example, manufactures quantum computers powered by neutral atom systems, and will receive $100 million to further scale its work.

Of the seven companies funded to continue innovation in their individual quantum computing spaces, Diraq, which specializes in quantum computing via silicon spin qubits, received $38 million. The other six each received $100 million.

“With today’s CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a press release. “These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities.”

Commerce’s announcement follows the Trump administration’s behind-the-scenes work on at least one executive action that will spur agency migration to post-quantum cryptographic standards ahead of the advent of a cryptographically-viable quantum computer, which poses a threat to the classical encryption schemes safeguarding modern digital networks.

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Air Force taps Salesforce’s Army contract for personnel modernization work

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 13 May 2026 15:28:00 -0400

Salesforce has signed a new $72 million enterprise license agreement with the Air Force to modernize personnel management and other functions using artificial intelligence.

This is part of a $5.6 billion contract Salesforce and the Army inked in January. The idea was that the vehicle would be open to all of the Defense Department.

The agreement with the Air Force is meant to enhance situational awareness and unify business functions like personnel management, Salesforce said Wednesday.

The Air Force will use Salesforce's Missionforce National Security offering, which includes artificial intelligence tools.

“Leveraging enterprise-wide contract vehicles accelerates our procurement timelines, optimizes resource allocation, and ensures our Airmen and Guardians are equipped with the agile technology necessary for today's dynamic mission environments," said Keith Hardiman, deputy chief information officer for the Air Force.

The Air Force is using the Salesforce agreement to consolidate contracts, reduce the number of contract actions and achieve volume-based savings.

The agreement also aims to help the Air Force connect its digital infrastructure to gain a view across personnel recruiting and logistics.

The Air Force will also be able to pilot implementation of Salesforce’s Agentforce, an agentic AI solution, which is intended to enable automation of workflows and support decision-making at the edge.

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House lawmakers introduce quantum initiative reauthorization

Alexandra Kelley — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:07:00 -0400

House lawmakers introduced their version of the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act on Thursday, which focuses on developing and advancing quantum information sciences and technology applications.

Led by Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, and cosponsored by Reps. Brian Babin, R-Texas, and Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., the bill’s agenda is coordinated through the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science, which steers federal agencies to identify use cases for quantum information technologies as well as hurdles to development and scaling.

The bill also reinstates the National Quantum Advisory Committee, a provision included in the original NQIA as well as in the Senate version of the reauthorization. It also supports the creation of international and private sector partnerships.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology would be tasked to help set standards for new QIST technologies under the House text. Some of these standards are related to the deployment of post-quantum cryptography, and the bill also directs the NIST head to conduct an analysis that can promote the deployment of post-quantum cryptography standards –– a subject that is omitted from a draft QIST executive order that has yet to be formally debuted.

A markup of the House NQIA is scheduled for April 29.

The Senate introduced its version of the reauthorization early in the year, led by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. The bill passed out of committee following an April 14 markup, where seven amendments were added to the text. It will now go to the Senate floor for a vote.

As with the Senate version, industry’s reaction primarily focuses on how the NQIA Reauthorization legislation will help quantum technology innovations make it from the lab to market.

Matt Cimaglia, the founder and managing partner of Quantum Coast Capital, told Nextgov/FCW that the focus needs to be on how QIST systems are applied and secured, as well as how institutions prepare for their impact.

“What stands out about the House’s approach to the National Quantum Initiative Act is the recognition that quantum technology is becoming part of our national infrastructure,” Cimaglia said. “If we approach this thoughtfully, quantum technology won’t be something we react to. It will be something we’re ready to use.”

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US needs to flesh out strategy to counter China’s robotics advances, lawmakers say

Edward Graham — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:08:00 -0400

Even as more advanced artificial intelligence capabilities drive greater progress in the field of robotics, lawmakers said on Tuesday that the U.S. still needs to develop a more effective strategy to counter China’s dominance in developing these technologies.

Although robots have been around for decades — primarily in manufacturing and to assist with other human-led tasks, such as medical procedures — these more powerful AI-infused machines can operate with greater autonomy. But even as the U.S. maintains its lead over China when it comes to global AI dominance, Congress and industry experts are concerned that America is ceding the robotics lead to Beijing.

During a House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology hearing, lawmakers and private sector representatives drew a contrast between fast-paced AI advances, and the development of actual, machine-based robots.

Michael Robbins, CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, said, “we are entering an era of embodied AI — or physical AI — where AI is the brain and robotics is the body,” warning the panel that “today, America may still be winning the race to build the brains, but we are losing the race to build and deploy the bodies.”

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. — the subcommittee’s top Democrat — echoed his comments, also noting that “America is home to the best and brightest AI scientists who are developing the brains,” but that “when robots are made in the U.S., they're often assembled with Chinese parts.”

China has increasingly touted its robotics progress, most recently by holding a race in which one of its humanoid machines beat the human half-marathon world record time. Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy also means that its private sector advances directly benefit its military ambitions, posing a national security threat to the U.S.

But China’s dominance in robotics also extends to the supply chains necessary for American companies to develop their own robots, Stevens noted. The country’s massive control of rare earth minerals and other components needed for developing robots and other advanced technologies, for instance, raises significant concerns about how best to decouple U.S. manufacturers from the Chinese market.

Jeff Burnstein, president of the A3 Association for Advancing Automation, said he wasn’t sure if banning Chinese-made robots — one potential way to drive domestic progress in the development of robotics — was a good idea because “right now, we do need those rare earth magnets here in the U.S., and I worry about, if we start a war over robotics, that we could lose some of those components that are vital to our goals.”

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who chairs the House panel, said the U.S. needs to adopt a national robotics strategy to counter China’s ambitions and also embolden domestic manufacturing and workforce adoption of robots. He noted that China and some U.S. allies, like South Korea and Japan, already have their own strategies, and added that, “there's such an obvious linkage between a robotics strategy and our national economy and national security.”

Obernolte, alongside Reps. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, introduced a measure in February seeking to establish a commission to evaluate and drive U.S. leadership in robotics.

Some agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, have already been experimenting with using robots, although the benefits actually provided by these machines have been mixed. Still, lawmakers and officials see a need to further expand uses of these technologies in both the public and private sectors, despite widespread adoption likely being a few years away.

Politico reported in December that Trump administration officials, including Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick, were holding meetings with leaders from the robotics industry to discuss ways of turbocharging development of the advanced machines.

The White House’s AI Action Plan, released in July 2025, also included a section on supporting the development of next-generation manufacturing — a proposal that, Obernolte said, “notes the importance of this intersection between AI and robotics.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the ranking member of the full House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said, however, that the single robotics-based recommendation in the action plan is not enough.

“While individual science agencies continue to make investments in robotics, there’s no coherent strategy for U.S. leadership,” Lofgren said, adding that “we can and still must lead in the field of robotics, but to achieve that goal, we need a concerted national effort to support innovation across the full robotics system.”

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AI capabilities are needed to counter drone threats, senator says

Edward Graham — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:37:00 -0400

With foreign adversaries increasingly relying on stockpiles of unmanned drones to strengthen their military capabilities, one senator argued Monday that the U.S. needs to quickly adopt new artificial intelligence capabilities to counter these growing threats.

Speaking on a panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said “we all have a better understanding of how warfare has changed” as a result of drone use in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the two nations have launched hundreds of thousands of drones at one another, while also using the systems to counter some of the attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in January that roughly 80% of the country’s attacks against Russian forces were carried out by drones.

Fischer — who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee — said the use of these drones “highlights for us the need to be able to defend with drones as well.”

With adversaries like China and Russia experimenting with giving drones more autonomy to attack targets without human involvement, the U.S. is similarly looking to advance its AI-infused weapons capabilities. All of this is occurring as Beijing and Washington, in particular, push to outcompete one another in the global AI arms race.

The ongoing U.S.-Israel war against Iran has also been punctuated by frequent drone attacks, with Tehran launching deadly strikes against U.S. forces and neighboring nations.

Greater AI adoption can help to counter these threats, Fischer said.

“When you see a swarm of drones coming in, AI can identify what maybe the pattern is there, and then allow our drones to identify that pattern and how they should respond to it,” she said.

Last year, the Pentagon launched the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, or DAWG, to quickly develop and deploy autonomous drones. President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, which was released earlier this month, requested $54.6 billion for the unit — a figure that would represent a significant increase to its previous $225 million budget.

Fischer said embracing AI-powered drones to counter other autonomous systems is “going to have to happen very, very quickly, and if we aren't ready for the future, we're in trouble.”

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Secret Service is embracing new solutions to combat malicious drones, director says

Edward Graham — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:04:00 -0400

The U.S. Secret Service is moving to embrace kinetic mitigation technologies to counter the threats posed by unmanned aerial systems — or drones — ahead of multiple upcoming large-scale events, the agency’s head said on Thursday.

During a budget hearing held by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Secret Service Director Sean Curran noted that the agency is preparing for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in a few months, America’s 250th birthday celebration in July and other high-profile meetings like the G20 Summit in December. He said, however, that 2028 “will be our busiest year on the calendar,” with the U.S. both hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as being in the midst of the next presidential campaign that year.

Curran warned that adversaries are increasingly looking to use drones and other new technologies to threaten U.S. leaders and other targets, which has necessitated that the agency enhance its own counter-drone abilities — particularly in preparation for these events.

“We’re also leading the way to detect, deter and defeat drone threats by exploring and deploying new technologies, such as kinetic solutions,” Curran said. “Our personnel are also thoroughly investigating drone incursions and pursuing criminal prosecutions.”

He said part of this effort includes thinking outside the box, as well as working more closely with federal agencies to mitigate the dangers posed by drones.

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said during the hearing that addressing the threat posed by drones is “one of the things that I’m greatly concerned about.”

Curran told him that the agency is “looking at kinetic solutions — something that we haven’t done before, and something that I’ve asked our technology department to lean into.”

Kinetic counter-drone technologies are used to physically disrupt or destroy unmanned aircraft. DHS noted in December 2025 that some of the solutions its Science and Technology Directorate evaluated include the use of satellite-jamming systems and direct-fire weapons to bring down malicious drones.

Curran added that the agency has also partnered with the Department of Defense to advance its counter-drone efforts, saying that he was traveling to Florida after the hearing adjourned “to see this system that we’ve moved into place in South Florida.”

Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach-based resort, is located in the southern part of the state.

The Secret Service, like other components of the Department of Homeland Security, has not received funding since the agency’s appropriations lapsed after Feb. 13. Curran said, however, that the ongoing shutdown has so far had a minor impact on the agency’s technology efforts.

“There are some supply chain issues with getting some of the equipment up to speed, but I will tell you that we are leading the way right now,” he said. “We’re spending just over $100 million over the past year and a half to get our technology up-to-date.”

President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, which was released earlier this month, also seeks “$100 million for protective counter-measures, including areas like counter-[unmanned aerial systems],” Curran noted.

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Senate committee approves quantum reauthorization bill with 7 amendments

Alexandra Kelley — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:04:00 -0400

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act on Tuesday, including a slew of amendments to the bill addressing the acceleration of near-term technological applications, post-quantum cryptography guidance and more.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., noted during the markup that her three bills — the Advancing Quantum Manufacturing Act, the Quantum Sandbox for Near-Term Application Act, and the National Quantum Cybersecurity Migration Strategy Act — all made it into the NQIA Reauthorization as amendments.

The first aims to improve coordination between the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, as well as establish a Manufacturing USA institute for quantum manufacturing that can determine the capabilities necessary to support quantum development and offer financial assistance.

The second measure looks to “establish a public-private partnership for near-term quantum application development and acceleration.”

The final proposal seeks to help prepare the federal government for the cybersecurity threats posed by advancing quantum capabilities, requiring the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate development of a national strategy.

“The National Quantum Initiative has really been a cornerstone of the work that is being done at some of the national labs like Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee … as we look at how we revolutionize national security, how we look at innovations in medicine and of course every sector of our nation’s economy,” Blackburn said during Tuesday's markup.

Four other amendments were also passed and included in the bill text.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., added two amendments: One looks to provide support for quantum testbeds that can hasten quantum information science and technology prototypes and scale-up for industry partners, and the other seeks to clarify the National Science Foundation’s program to improve and expand access to quantum research resources.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., also introduced an amendment to the NQIA Reauthorization that looks to establish a channel of consultation between Multidisciplinary Centers for Quantum Research and Education –– entities created by the first iteration of the NQIA –– and regional technology and innovation hubs created by the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980.

Under Hickenlooper's proposal, the National Science Foundation and the Secretary of Commerce would be tasked with coordinating research and development activities between the centers and hubs, with a focus on quantum information sciences, engineering and technology.

The final amendment from Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., also seeks to address the research domains of the Multidisciplinary Centers for Quantum Research and Education. The amendment would expand research initiatives not just in QIST disciplines, but also in adjacent fields like materials science, fabrication science and physics.

Kim’s amendment would also direct the Multidisciplinary Centers to leverage existing infrastructure, namely data centers and communication networks, to support demonstrations and applications of quantum technologies and to work with industry partners.

The National Quantum Initiative Act was first passed in 2018, and expired in the fall of 2023. Lawmakers reintroduced the reauthorization of the bill in January 2026. Industry leaders were quick to throw their support behind the NQIA Reauthorization following Tuesday’s markup.

“We applaud the Senate Commerce Committee leadership for taking a step toward reauthorizing and expanding the National Quantum Initiative,” D-Wave SVP of Global Public Affairs and Government Relations Allison Schwartz said in a statement. “We are encouraged that the Committee included commercialization language and near-term quantum application development. These sandbox style programs are critical to demystifying the capabilities of quantum computing and determining how to address some of the nation’s most pressing optimization challenges.”

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who led the reintroduction of the bill along with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., voiced support for the NQIA Reauthorization's progression.

“Quantum technologies promise to dramatically transform every industry and sector of our economy and revolutionize our technological capabilities,” Young said in a statement. “The National Quantum Initiative strengthens the research and development investments and builds a strong workforce which plays a critical role in safeguarding America’s economic and national security. This legislation, which reauthorizes the NQI, is critical to ensuring American leadership in quantum technology.”

Following the full committee vote, the bill will now advance to the Senate floor.

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State official to EU: Work with us on tech policy or fall behind a generation

Edward Graham — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:57:00 -0400

A top State Department official on Wednesday excoriated the European Union’s regulatory regime for disincentivizing innovative collaboration with the United States and pressed for closer engagement between the allies to counter China’s technological ambitions.

During a conversation in Brussels hosted by The German Marshall Fund, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said the bloc has become “a Caligulan bureaucracy that has, regulation-by-regulation, irrigated more and more power away from sovereign European states — not liberating the European economy, but strangulating it.”

Referencing the 2024 Draghi report on the EU’s competitiveness, which laid out recommendations for how the bloc can enhance its economic growth, Helberg said the findings showed that the union has largely missed out on driving major tech advances, such as in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

“Europe is accruing a lag that will not be reversible in years,” he said. “It will take a generation to undo. That is not a policy disagreement; that is a civilizational emergency. And yet, there is a curious quietude around it.”

Helberg also criticized recent EU laws that have penalized U.S. technology companies, which he said sends the message that the bloc is hostile to foreign investment. This included directing particular scorn at the Digital Markets Act, which first went into effect in 2022 with the goal of promoting fair competition in the online marketplace.

Helberg said the fines imposed on U.S. firms under the law — which have resulted in millions of dollars in penalties for tech giants like Apple and Meta — are ultimately more costly to the EU, since they encourage companies to turn elsewhere for investment and development. He called the Digital Markets Act "the biggest point of friction" in the relationship between the bloc and the U.S.

“We're not willing to be politely silent, because we are not politely invested,” he said of the Trump administration’s approach to engaging with the EU.

Helberg, who was in Brussels as part of a tour of European allies, is also one of the chief architects of State’s Pax Silica initiative. The effort looks to enhance U.S. and allied nations’ access to artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies by partnering to promote more secure supply chains.

In a March 30 X post, Helberg wrote: “Pax Silica is knitting together the trusted network the Al race requires. Europe belongs in that network. The question is whether Brussels will let it show up.”

His speech on Thursday served as another call for the EU to join the initiative. Greece and Sweden, both members of the bloc, have separately joined Pax Silica.

Given China’s export controls on rare earth minerals, Helberg said, “I do think that there's a lot of appetite to work together [with the EU] on economic security issues.” He added that Pax Silica is a way for the U.S. and its allies to counter China’s tech ambitions, while also promoting a more streamlined regulatory regime.

More effective competition with Beijing, he said, includes a greater focus on logistics, infrastructure and mineral processing when developing emerging technologies. Helberg said the policy-focused components of the initiative include “developing baseline definitions for sensitive technology and critical infrastructure, as well as defining a pro-innovation agenda on AI.”

While the U.S. and EU are discussing the Digital Markets Act as part of continuing trade negotiations between the two powers, Helberg said he’s hopeful that similar ongoing conversations about economic security will also “ultimately culminate in more European countries joining the Pax Silica initiative.”

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Citizen Science Month 2026 is about more than just stargazing

John Breeden II — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:18:00 -0400

April has always felt like a favorite time of year for people who like science, civic life and the idea that ordinary citizens can still make a real contribution to public institutions. That feeling carries a little extra weight in 2026. This year’s Citizen Science Month is built around a goal of 2.5 million “Acts of Science,” tying the annual event to America’s 250th birthday through a simple but powerful idea: lots of small contributions can add up to something really meaningful.

The annual celebration has a broad reach. SciStarter remains one of the main organizing hubs, with project listings, event pages and participation guides covering all kinds of scientific and civic work. But what has always made Citizen Science Month especially interesting to me is how often it opens a door into real government missions.

In the United States, that can mean helping NASA classify data streaming in from one of Jupiter’s moons, assisting agencies that monitor weather and wildlife, or contributing to the federal government’s effort to preserve and open up the historical record. The federal participation page at USA.gov this year points people toward some amazing opportunities at the Library of Congress, NASA, the National Archives, NOAA and others, which makes the public-service dimension unusually visible this year, and also a lot of fun.

As in previous years, NASA remains one of the biggest supporters of citizen science. Its citizen science page currently lists 42 NASA science projects that are open to everyone, and it describes those efforts as a way for volunteers and amateurs to help make important discoveries while searching for life elsewhere, protecting Earth and improving life in space. The project list ranges from tracking precipitation and auroras to classifying galaxies and hunting for planets outside our solar system.

One of the most interesting projects from NASA this year involves downloading and processing images coming from a satellite-based camera orbiting Juno, one of Jupiter’s moons. And in addition to that, citizen scientists are also encouraged to set up their own telescopes and take pictures of the moon to add to the scientific study of that potentially important celestial body.

I try to participate in citizen science month every year, and many of the NASA space projects are really interesting. But the project that caught my attention this time came from a very different part of the federal government. Instead of looking up into space, I chose to gaze into the past this year. I did that via the Library of Congress crowdsourcing site. Their key effort this year is called the By the People project, which invites volunteers to transcribe and review handwritten, historically significant, documents so that they become easier to search, read and use online. There is something strangely satisfying about looking at a yellowing old page with fading script and realizing that a few minutes of patience can help make it accessible to researchers, students and curious readers far in the future.

The Library describes the effort as a virtual volunteer program, and the current campaigns feature many interesting Americans including Hannah Arendt, Clara Barton, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft others from American history. The project that I zeroed in on was designed to help preserve the correspondence of President James A. Garfield, who only served for six months before an assassin’s bullet, and subsequent poor medical care, took his life. None of the documents I worked on were earth-shattering. One was about a meeting regarding musical education. But helping to transcribe Garfield’s letters and writings let me honor both his sacrifice and short life of government service.

That kind of work also fits the spirit of this year’s citizen science efforts especially well. As the country approaches its 250th anniversary, some of the most compelling ways to participate in Citizen Science Month are not only about stars, weather or wildlife. They are also about helping federal institutions preserve and highlight the documentary record of our nation.

The National Archives offers a similar invitation through its Citizen Archivist missions. Among them is a project focused on Revolutionary War pension files, with the Archives noting that the stories of more than 80,000 men and women who lived through the American Revolution are waiting to be told. That is a reminder that public participation in government does not always mean fieldwork or sensors. Sometimes it means making the past easier to find, search and understand.

Other agencies show how wide the field has become. NASA’s projects remain rooted in scientific discovery. NOAA and other environmental agencies continue to offer volunteer and observation opportunities connected to weather, water and wildlife. The larger point is that Citizen Science Month has evolved into something broader than a single discipline or a single type of activity. It has become one of the clearest annual reminders that the public can still contribute directly to federal work in ways that are concrete, measurable and surprisingly varied.

That may be the most encouraging thing about Citizen Science Month in 2026. It offers a practical reminder that people can still make meaningful contributions to public institutions and federal missions. Sometimes that means classifying galaxies for NASA. And sometimes it means transcribing handwritten pages written in flowery script for the Library of Congress or the National Archives. Either way, the result is the same: a little more knowledge, a little more access and a little more proof that public service is not always something exclusively done by public servants.

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys

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IBM unveils new hybrid quantum computing architecture

Alexandra Kelley — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

IBM is betting on hybrid systems being the future of near-term quantum computing, introducing a new computing architecture that uses both classical and quantum-specific technology to apply the benefits of quantum-based capabilities to current problems.

Announced on Thursday, the new architecture combines quantum hardware with leading classical processing and graphics processing units — along with larger infrastructure like high-speed networks and shared digital storage — to leverage the promised benefits of quantum advantage to modern problems.

Images shared with Nextgov/FCW depict the new architecture as being underpinned by the combination of classical CPUs and GPUs that work alongside IBM’s quantum compute systems, such as its recent large-scale processors, Starling and Heron. It connects to a quantum management resource interface that sits below classical and quantum programming software models, which all receive information from applications and classical and quantum programming libraries.

Some entities are already making use of IBM’s new architecture, including Cleveland Clinic researchers simulating digital models of protein molecules and IBM and RIKEN scientists simulating iron-sulfur clusters.

“Today’s quantum processors are beginning to tackle the hardest parts of scientific problems — those governed by quantum mechanics in chemistry,” Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research and an IBM fellow, said in a press release. “The future lies in quantum-centric supercomputing, where quantum processors work together with classical high-performance computing to solve problems that were previously out of reach. IBM is building the technology and systems that brings this future of computing into reality today.”

Hybrid computing architectures have emerged as a way to bring quantum-inspired computing to market, as fault-tolerant quantum computers still need to be successfully developed. IBM joins Microsoft and NVIDIA as companies launching various hardware, middleware and software solutions aimed at incorporating into a tech stack that can bring the benefits of quantum computing to existing and reliable classical infrastructures.

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NASA seeks extension of SEWP V to Sept. 30

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:25:22 -0400

Faced with several bid protests and an extremely large number of proposals, NASA is asking for authorization to extend SEWP V for a few more months until the end of the fiscal year.

SEWP V is currently slated to expire on April 30, but NASA has not completed evaluating proposals for SEWP VI.

The agency therefore wants to extend the current contract to Sept. 30. SEWP is one of the market’s largest IT product and services contracts. The next version will have a $60 billion ceiling.

“Additional time is needed to make selection and award,” NASA posted on the SEWP website.

NASA does not mention the protests in its announcement, but there are nine active challenges at the Government Accountability Office from companies whose proposals were rejected during phase one of the evaluation process.

GAO's deadlines to rule on the protests fall in late May and early June, well past the April 30 end date for SEWP V. NASA said it wants SEWP VI to begin the day after SEWP V ends, so there is no disruption in the program.

By extending the end of SEWP V to Sept. 30, the agency should have enough time to get through the remaining evaluations as well as resolve the protests.

That will also leave the agency a few weeks to plan a going-away party for Joanne Woytek, the long-time SEWP program manager. Woytek announced Tuesday that she will leave NASA on Oct. 17.

She has led the program since 1999 and is considered the chief architect of its success.

Woytek has said she is not retiring, but will take her skills and experience and apply them to a new opportunity.

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VA’s early uses of robots have shown mixed success, but excitement remains

Edward Graham — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:28:00 -0400

LAS VEGAS — It may sound like science fiction, but robots are beginning to play a role in the delivery of healthcare services across the U.S.

Within the Department of Veterans Affairs’ network of medical facilities, clinicians and providers have started to use these technologies to automate some of their daily tasks. Although the actual benefits provided by these robots have been mixed, frontline providers and others across VA’s medical system have reportedly been supportive of further adoption of these assistive tools.

During a Monday session at the HIMSS conference in Las Vegas, Beth Ripley — acting chief innovation officer in VA’s Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning — said the conventional thinking about using robots is that they tackle “the three Ds”: jobs that are dull, dirty or dangerous. All of those areas, she noted, are present in hospital settings, with robots also providing an opportunity to address other problems, like chronic understaffing.

“So we have an administration priority — and all of you probably have the same — which is that we would love to have our staff working the top of their license, doing what they need to do, what they're trained to do, not schlepping things around,” Ripley said. “And what we realized when we started talking to people in VA is that a lot of workforce shortages were leading to people that shouldn't be doing these kind of simple tasks that we have.”

To better understand current uses of robots across its network, Ripley said VA undertook “a data call” of its medical facilities. Of the 90 facilities that responded to the request, 65 of them reported local uses of the advanced tech.

In total, Ripley said these sites reported 121 deployed uses of robots. Of those, 37 uses were delivery robots — which transport things such as medical supplies and in-patient veteran meals — while 35 were used for pharmaceutical mixing and packaging and another 31 were used for facility cleaning services.

Among the rarer applications, 14 were listed as “other,” two were for rehabilitation and care and two were for veteran medical interaction and facility navigation.

These deployed robots share more in common with the Roomba robotic vacuum than more advanced technologies, but early adoption shows that more work still needs to be done to hone their capabilities.

Follow-up visits by VA personnel to a subset of the responding facilities identified mixed benefits from using robots, although there was strong excitement from hospital staff about the potential these technologies have to offer.

In one instance, Ripley said personnel followed a robot for 96 minutes “to do something they can walk in three minutes.” In other cases, she said “they were working well,” although she also added that “a lot of the robots were sitting in closets or are kind of dead in the hall somewhere.”

Ripley cited the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston as VA’s “most successful robot implementation across the country because [the site] was purpose-built for robots, which is fantastic,” although she said that hospitals do not have to be rebuilt to accommodate uses of the technologies.

One main takeaway from the Houston VA site, she noted, is that the facility has trained its staff “to be able to take care of the robots,” rather than having to rely on the original equipment manufacturers to come in and make any necessary mechanical repairs.

But issues identified at VA medical facilities — like hospital staff having to spend time chasing down wayward robots, or the tools not transporting medications where they are supposed to go — have highlighted the drawbacks of a broader reliance on these technologies at this time. Ripley said the department is aware of these challenges and is working to smooth out problems.

“So, our ideal state is that robots automate routine tasks, minimize error and allow staff to focus on patient interactions,” she said. “Our current state, as I said, is not quite there. There are serious gaps that we need to overcome, but we can get to those now.”

Despite some of these robots not being ready for primetime, Ripley said feedback from clinicians about using the technologies “was overwhelmingly positive.”

She said the department found that “people want to do robots,” with one effusive respondent telling VA personnel that “nurses need to do direct care; everything else should be robots.”

Ripley added that “a lot of them are saying: ‘Make it easier for us, figure out how to do it better.’”

Other surveys and multi-step interviews VA conducted with veterans, caregivers and hospital staff also found widespread interest in adopting robots for targeted uses moving forward. All three surveyed groups identified daily living and needs assistance-focused robots as their top use case for the tools.

Streamlined adoption of robots across VA’s network of more than 170 medical facilities, however, is still a ways off. Ripley noted that none of the sites that responded to the department’s data call had developed local policies or practices, procurement frameworks or working groups for the use of robots.

In response to an audience question from Nextgov/FCW about implementing a policy framework and requirements for broader adoption of robots across VA’s medical network, Ripley noted that the department is already working to bring experts and the broader VA community together to find safe ways of harnessing uses of advanced capabilities, such as through the creation of the proving ground and innovation incubator X_Labs at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System.

“The next thing that we started to do is build out playbooks and some — not to policy yet — but guidance for the field and what that looks like,” she added. “Another thing that we're working on right now is starting to think about larger contracting mechanisms, so that we're not leaving each VA alone to try to figure out what would work and what [would] not.”

Ripley said VA is also working to address questions around the deployment of robots and is also looking to industry for guidance. Some of the department’s criteria for prioritization of these tools includes whether the robots will restore or preserve veterans’ independence, if they relieve pain points for clinicians and caregivers and if there is a clinical validation or pathway to using the tech.

“Robots are a little in the future, but if we don't think about it now and start to set the policies, I think we will regret it,” Ripley said.

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The man who built the web wants to fix it

Camille Tuutti — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:47:00 -0400

Decades after inventing the web, Tim Berners-Lee is still defending it.

This time, he's not talking about browsers or bandwidth but about business models. Onstage in Barcelona at Talent Arena on March 3, Berners-Lee said many of today’s platforms are designed to maximize engagement and what drives engagement is not measured debate but outrage, fear and extreme content.

"When you put in the addictive algorithm, you do it deliberately," he said, pushing back on the idea that these systems are inevitable.

Berners-Lee conceived the web in 1989 while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to help scientists share information across institutions. The idea was simple. At CERN, knowledge moved through hallway conversations and coffee breaks.

"One of the things I wanted to do was to be able to replace the coffee place," he said.

The web scaled that exchange to the world. It was decentralized by design. Anyone could link to anything, and no central authority controlled it. In 1993, CERN made the core technology royalty free, clearing the way for global adoption. Competitors agreed on shared standards at the infrastructure layer, even as they fought for dominance.

Netscape and Microsoft were battling for browser dominance, but both knew agreeing on shared standards would make the web bigger for everyone.

"You've got these two forces and you move forward," he said.

Three decades later, Berners-Lee has no illusions about what followed.

Most of the web still works as intended. Open standards let browsers and websites communicate. Information moves across borders and innovation doesn’t require permission from a single gatekeeper.

“Most of the web, I'm very positive about,” he said. “There are some bits I'm disappointed in.”

Social networks turned into social media. Users turned into broadcasters. Platforms shifted from connecting small groups of friends to curating feeds for billions. The goal became keeping users on the platform as long as possible.

Developers and companies choose what to optimize for, Berners-Lee said. They can build systems that encourage healthy interaction and exposure to different perspectives or systems that reward compulsion. If an algorithm boosts harmful content because it drives clicks, responsibility doesn’t vanish into technical complexity. Systems are designed by people so they can be redesigned.

That belief drives his current work. Through a project called Solid, Berners-Lee is separating personal data from platforms. Today, most user data lives in corporate clouds run by businesses. People may technically own their data, but it sits inside company-controlled systems.

In Solid, personal data sits in individual online stores. Apps ask for access to specific information and users can grant or revoke that access at any time.

Berners-Lee is already building on that model. Charlie is an AI assistant that pulls from a user’s Solid data store, not a corporate database. A general AI system starts blind, trained on the open web and knowing nothing specific about you. Charlie has permission to use your data. Ask what running shoes to buy and it knows you are training for a half marathon, how many miles you run each week and whether you train on roads or trails.

"Claude doesn't understand anything about you, but Charlie does," Berners-Lee said.

Some governments, including the Flemish government in Belgium, are testing similar approaches that give citizens controlled digital storage environments for public services. He sees that as proof the web’s architecture can still evolve.

The web was designed, which means it can be redesigned, Berners-Lee said. That work belongs to the developers, product teams and founders building what comes next. He left the crowd with a clear directive:

"We should imagine a better world,” he said. “Imagine apps which are collaborative, which are creative, which are compassionate. Imagine this world — and do whatever you can to get towards that world."

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Robotics ethicist calls for stronger US guardrails as automation accelerates

Camille Tuutti — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Robots are moving into warehouses and factories faster than lawmakers are updating federal rules, a mismatch one technology ethics expert said could determine the future of work more than the machines themselves.

Speaking March 3 at Talent Arena in Barcelona, Kate Darling, research lead for robotics, ethics and society at the Robotics and AI Institute, said the trajectory of automation in the U.S. will depend less on what robots can do and more on what policymakers allow companies to do with them.

“Companies aren’t rewarded for making decisions that support people or social goods,” she said. “Companies are rewarded for profit. They’re rewarded for being first to market.”

When robotics cuts labor costs or increases output, deployment becomes a business decision. Whether displaced workers are retrained or supported elsewhere depends on public policy. Darling was blunt about where the U.S. stands.

“We don’t currently have that, in the U.S. at least, or at least not to the extent that we need for the transformation that’s coming,” she said.

Darling, who spent 14 years at the MIT Media Lab, also rejected the idea that regulation slows innovation. Governance, she said, directs innovation rather than stops it.

“I think what it does is drive innovation in a direction that is more supportive of people instead of in the direction that I fear we’re currently going,” she said.

Too often, the robotics debate focuses on technical capability. Darling said that misses the larger point. Automation doesn’t unfold on its own. It reflects economic and political choices.

Ethics boards haven’t fixed the problem, she added. Companies follow their advice when it doesn’t conflict with profit and ignore it when it does. Her alternative is to embed social scientists inside engineering teams from the start, as the Toyota Research Institute does, so ethics and social impact are built into product design rather than added later.

On accountability, she was equally blunt.

When something goes wrong in a human-machine system, the human operator often takes the blame, even when design, policy or management decisions set the failure in motion. Citing researcher Madeleine Clare Elish, Darling pointed to the concept of the moral crumple zone, where responsibility collapses onto the person closest to the machine instead of being distributed across the system behind it.

She referenced a fatal Uber self-driving crash in Arizona as an example, where the safety driver absorbed much of the blame while broader organizational failures received less scrutiny.

“We need to hold people and organizations accountable and not the machines themselves,” she said.

For Darling, the real question isn’t whether robotics will expand. It will. The question is whether U.S. policy keeps pace. She described Europe’s regulatory push as an experiment other countries are watching and argued the U.S. needs stronger guardrails.

“We need to vote for politicians who care about people and workers,” she said. “We need governance and regulation that supports workers.”

When pressed on what individuals can do, she was even more direct.

“Get involved in politics,” she said. “Politics is very important. And vote for people who support humans and human work and human flourishing.”

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Energy announces $352M in funding for frontier science

Alexandra Kelley — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:03:00 -0500

The Department of Energy unveiled a new $352 million funding opportunity for frontier research centers to accelerate emerging energy technologies and systems that will power the U.S. technology landscape.

Announced on Tuesday, the new funding for Energy Frontier Research Centers follows the Trump administration’s May 2025 executive order instructing agencies to prioritize “Gold Standard Science” and is available for U.S. colleges and universities, researchers based in the national laboratory apparatus and private sector companies.

The goal is to address fundamental research challenges in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences and biosciences.

The focus on these fields serves as a means to advance breakthroughs in areas like critical minerals, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing that are slated to be crucial to new energy technologies and systems.

“For over 15 years, the EFRC program has provided a transformational research environment that has brought together the strengths of our National Laboratories and universities to accelerate discovery, develop innovative tools, and train the next generation of the American energy science workforce,” Energy Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said in a press release. “The EFRCs will continue to play a vital role in bridging disciplines and institutions, advancing foundational science and strengthening America’s leadership to push forward scientific frontiers critical for new energy technologies.”

Program applicants are required to focus on research topics that address scientific challenges in one of the highlighted topics: unconventional computing paradigms; artificial intelligence and machine learning for materials and chemistry; complex chemical systems; critical minerals and materials; nuclear energy science; subsurface science; electrical energy storage; advanced manufacturing; microelectronics; and quantum systems and computing.

During the second Trump administration, Energy has been a key agency in helping the U.S. dominate in emerging technology and fundamental scientific research. Last fall, the agency unveiled a roadmap to advance fusion energy technologies to support the American energy grid.

During the announcement, Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged artificial intelligence as “a tremendous enabling technology” that is poised to further fundamental science in fusion energy research.

“It's hard to overstate the catalytic effect of artificial intelligence,” he said at the time.

Energy is also at the forefront of the Genesis Mission, a Trump administration program that will create the American Science and Security Platform to unify the U.S. national labs in leveraging high-performance computing to advance emerging technology research.

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