As various quantum computing research and development efforts advance globally, DARPA wants to rigorously assess any quantum research claims that a useful fault-tolerant quantum computer could be built much sooner. DARPA has therefore announced the Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program. US2QC aims to determine if an underexplored approach to quantum computing is capable of achieving utility-scale operation much faster than conventional predictions.

“DARPA’s mission is to create and prevent strategic surprise,” said Joe Altepeter, US2QC program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office. “If there’s an underexplored area of quantum computing showing promise for a faster breakthrough than we previously expected, we want to explore it immediately and thoroughly verify and validate the approach’s viability.”