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At the recent TechNet Indo-Pacific conference, Theresa Melvin, Chief Technology Officer at Aerospike, claimed that China is about a decade ahead of the US in quantum technology due to dedicated research and lack of distraction from a war on terror. She cited China’s significant funding to quantum research, estimated at over $15 billion, although this doesn’t account for US private sector investment. However, the ITIF suggests China excels in quantum communications but not quantum computing, where the US is seen to lead with companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon at the forefront.

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At a recent TechNet Indo-Pacific conference, one of the speakers, Theresa Melvin, asserted that China is about ten years ahead of the US in the field of quantum technology. This conference is an annual event that focuses on discussions related to military defense and readiness, particularly around the regions between Africa’s eastern coast and the US’s western coast.

The topic of the talk was “AI/ML as a Warfighting Advantage” and it occurred on October 22. Melvin, who works as the chief technology officer at the AI company Aerospike, was among the speakers. She suggested that China’s lead in quantum technology is primarily due to the country not having engaged in a war on terror.

Melvin seems to refer to the substantial funding China has allocated to quantum computing research, which is estimated at over $15 billion – about five times more than what the US has invested. However, these figures do not take into account spending by the private sector on quantum technologies, a field where the US is leading.

One interesting development in China’s quantum computing sector was a recent report suggesting that scientists at Shanghai University had used a Canadian-built quantum device to break “military grade” encryption. However, this report was swiftly disproven.

Contrary to the hype, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) offers a more balanced perspective on China’s quantum technologies sector. The ITIF’s report reveals that China excels in quantum communications but lags behind the US in computing. The areas where the US leads, such as quantum computing and quantum encryption, are closely linked to security and defense.

In the realm of quantum communications, China’s research is world-class. Yet, there’s minimal proof to suggest that they are competitive in quantum computing or encryption/decryption. Current research and development roadmaps show that US-based private sector companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and others are ahead of China in these areas, as well as in related fields like artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Source: Cointelegraph