DARPA program aims to sift through quantum computing hype

According to DARPA, the QBI program will verify and validate approaches that enable revolutionary advances in design, engineering, testing, and evaluation in the domain of fault-tolerant quantum computing and explore computational workflows that include quantum compute steps.

“Our opening position is skepticism,” stated Dr. Joe Altepeter, the DARPA program manager of the project, in a blog about QBI. “Specifically, skepticism that a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer with a sufficient number of logical qubits can ever be built.”

“We will walk into the room and say, ‘We’re pretty sure whatever you’re doing is not going to work.’ I will bring a small army of scientists and engineers, we will listen to your evidence, and we will double and triple check using our own analysis,” Altepeter wrote. “And if we’re convinced the technology you’re developing checks out and you’re onto something big, we’ll tell the rest of government and become a strong advocate for your approach.”

Proving (or disproving) the promise of quantum computing will require a broad research and development collaboration across industry, academia, and government, Altepeter stated. A range of investments required include workforce development, infrastructure, and verification and validation expertise, Altepeter stated.

To that end, QBI will incorporate input from outside organizations, including the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the State of Illinois, which is building a quantum computing corridor in the greater Chicago area. DARPA expects other quantum leaders in the industry will want to be a part of QBI as well. 

DARPA already has a number of other quantum development programs and works with a variety of commercial entities to develop quantum networking and computing. In 2023, for its Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing program, it signed up Atom Computing, Microsoft Corporation and PsiQuantum to build quantum systems, for example.