U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 22 that launches a plan to help develop a quantum computer at the scale needed to perform scientific discovery, deliver one such quantum computer to the Department of Energy, field three Department of Defense-approved quantum sensing projects by the end of September 2028 and develop a plan to support the domestic supply chain for quantum-enabling component technologies. The same day, Trump signed a second executive order that accelerates the timeframe for certain key government contractors and service providers to migrate to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) schemes, setting a Dec. 31, 2030, deadline for key establishment and Dec. 31, 2031, deadline for digital signatures.

PQC schemes are designed to protect systems against cyberattacks from both traditional and quantum computers. Many classical encryption schemes use public-key cryptography, also called asymmetric cryptography, which will become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks from quantum computers as this technology advances.