Quantum computing and technologies are breaking out of the lab and into the marketplace. Major announcements from PsiQuantum and Quantinuum, as well as publicly traded IonQ, Google, and Microsoft, paired with accelerating investment demonstrate the maturation of the sector. But distinguishing between concrete advancements and manufactured hype is critical, particularly when taxpayer funds are involved.
DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) is the template for such evaluation. We have, finally, a rubric that can call balls and strikes, something crucially important in an often byzantine field.
DARPA has long played a critical role in American technology development and deployment and continues to do so today. Since its inception in 1958, DARPA has been at the center of the American science and technology engine. Its experience in supporting early-stage development of technologies such as the internet, driverless cars, mRNA therapeutics, and stealth aircrafts makes it the ideal candidate to support the burgeoning quantum ecosystem. DARPA’s long-standing focus on transformative advances, pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible, and positioning the United States for that future, makes it well-suited to evaluate and prepare for the coming advancements in quantum computing.
The QBI program has and will continue to be the lens through which quantum computing progress is evaluated. QBI is focused on a key question: can a company’s approach deliver an economically viable platform for advanced, utility-scale quantum computing. Dr. Joe Altepeter, the DARPA program manager leading this effort, has stated the organization’s default position for interested firms is “skepticism,” even calling himself the “Chief Quantum Skeptic.” This program is not about anointing future national champions. Instead, it is evaluating the economic and technical feasibility of systems and creating a feedback loop for private and public entities to understand and evaluate the technical approaches being developed.
QBI’s evaluation on the basis of technical and economic feasibility creates a funnel to move from ideation to deployment. QBI launched in 2021, where the program focused on creating clear benchmarks to evaluate progress. Since its latest iteration in 2024, QBI has advanced in two important areas. First, the benchmarking team has released research outlining areas where quantum computing can be transformative, specifying the size and type of quantum computers necessary for future innovation. Second, QBI builds and expands upon the Underexplored Systems for Utility-Sale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program, which aims to determine whether it’s possible to build an industrially useful quantum computer much faster than conventional predictions through independent verification and validation teams. To date, PsiQuantum and Microsoft have been selected to Stage C, the final validation and co-design stage of the QBI program.
Narrowing of potential awardees has demonstrated DARPA’s rigorous approach. Stage A, which began in 2024, included eighteen companies receiving $1 million, which in-turn required firms to provide detailed technical concepts over six months to demonstrate feasibility for creating utility-scale quantum systems. Stage B will include further scrutiny of research and development by such companies, narrowing to fifteen total participants. Selected companies will then proceed to Stage C, where firms will build their hardware and face independent verification and validation by the DARPA team.
The promise of DARPA’s QBI is that this process lays the foundation for realizing the power of quantum computing and all of its potential applications, and delivers an American fault-tolerant quantum computer. From material discovery to advanced medical applications to complementing burgeoning machine learning capabilities, there is lots of fanfare around this technology and the benefits it could bring to the American people. But without rigorous investigation and evaluation, capital could simply fuel further hype.
The announcement of QBI-2 today is another step forward in advancing US quantum leadership. DARPA is doing what it has always done best: create conditions for technological leaps by unleashing private and public actors on difficult problems. By setting clear benchmarks for evaluation companies can compete on the merits of their technology, enabling upstarts and incumbents alike to push the boundaries of what is possible today in pursuit of the technologies of tomorrow.
