Biden Orders Quantum Computing Push as China Challenge Grows

  • White House aims to safeguard data from quantum-fueled hacks
  • U.S. is locked in a race with China over next-gen technology

Electronics for use in a quantum computer.

Photographer: Seth Wenig/AP Photo

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President Joe Biden will sign directives on Wednesday aimed at preparing the U.S for a new era of quantum computing, as Chinese agencies and companies pour billions of dollars into the next-generation technology.

The Biden administration wants America’s most vulnerable IT systems to adopt new cryptographic standards that can resist the potential threat of code-cracking posed by quantum computing, a nascent technology that does not yet exist at viable scale.