On July 21, 2020, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) jointly announced $75 million for three new quantum computing centers. The targeted investment will be used over the next five years to answer the outstanding and fundamental research questions in order to develop technological breakthroughs in quantum information science (QIS) and engineering.

According to the NSF, the three institutes will:

• NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Enhanced Sensing and Distribution Using Correlated Quantum States. Led by the University of Colorado, this institute will design, build and employ quantum sensing technology for a wide variety of applications in precision measurement.
• NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks. Led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this institute will work to build interconnected networks of small-scale quantum processors and test their functionality for practical applications.
• NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Present and Future Quantum Computing. This institute, led by the University of California, Berkeley, plans to learn from computing prototypes to develop and design advanced and large-scale quantum computers. Its ultimate goal is to demonstrate that quantum computers outperform the best-known traditional computers.

To learn more about the three new institutes, please click here. The Akin Gump cross-practice emerging technology team actively monitors for forthcoming domestic initiatives related to quantum computing, including as the federal government continues to make critical progress in carrying out QIS and technology development.

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