US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to overhaul the National Quantum Strategy – a directive to “supercharge” US quantum innovation and strengthen efforts to protect future encryption from emerging cyber threats.

“America stands at the cusp of a quantum revolution,” Trump states in the introduction of Executive Order 14411: Ushering in the next Frontier of Quantum Innovation.

Signed in the Oval Office with department heads flanking the President on Monday, the directive pushes the field of quantum information science and technology (QIST) to “provide transformational capabilities that will drive American innovation, power economic growth, generate high-paying jobs, and bolster national security.”

The race to beat Q-day

The move comes as quantum experts continue to bang the drum of a potential “post-quantum apocalypse” or Q-day – when quantum computers, and the hackers using them, could eventually break current encryption algorithms.

This includes RSA-2048, considered one of the most secure and widely deployed public-key cryptography algorithms in use today.

The driving fear is that nation-state adversaries, as well as common cybercriminals, have already been hoarding sensitive stolen data for years in anticipation of that moment – a strategy known as “harvest now, decrypt later” – putting national security at grave risk.

While experts disagree on when a cryptographically relevant quantum computer will arrive, tech giants like IBM, Google, and Gartner say that time could be as soon as 2029, just three years away.

By contrast, experts also predict that the post-quantum encryption (PQC) changeover, especially for major companies, could take on average at least 12 years.

And although new post-quantum encryption standards were released by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) back in 2024, the Diffie-Hellman encryption algorithm, invented in 1976, is said to still power most of the internet.

“We must act to solidify the Nation’s position as the world’s QIST superpower and deliver the commercial and research benefits of quantum innovation to the American people. Equally important, we must protect sensitive technologies and work with allies to ensure adversaries cannot use QIST to undermine national security, “ Trump states.

A powerful quantum computer by 2028

The order will not only encourage partnerships with the US industry to “bolster quantum research and IP security” led by the FBI but also expand quantum computing system capabilities to commercial applications.

Calling it an ambitious agenda, Science and Technology Advisor to the President, Director Michael Kratsios says the US plans to build “the first quantum computer powerful enough for scientific discovery by 2028.”

The US Departments of Energy, War, Commerce, and the national intelligence agencies, alongside US industry and research leaders, will be tasked with deploying quantum sensors and networks in the next 5 years, Kratsios said in a post on X.

“There's been a big leap in the investment the private sector has made in this particular domain. We're now at the moment where a lot of that research is starting to pay off into commercial applications—and what this Executive Order will do will turbocharge that," the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director said.

Furthermore, the Department of Labor and the US National Science Foundation will be in charge of developing a quantum-ready workforce and creating training, credentialing, and apprenticeship programs for Americans through a newly formed National Quantum Workforce Development Institute.

Not to be left out, the US Commerce Department will also be tasked with strengthening domestic supply chains and manufacturing for quantum technologies, as well as securing the cash to fund it, the announcement said.

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