The US Department of Energy has launched the Quantum Genesis Q Competition, aiming to produce a fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer by 2028—something no one has yet achieved at scale. The ambitious initiative seeks to accelerate private-sector development of this transformative technology, which has long promised breakthroughs but struggled to deliver.

The competition will distribute up to $215 million across up to ten awardees, each eligible for up to $1.5 million in the first phase, though only $250,000 is available upfront; the remainder depends on delivering a validated prototype within a year. The DoE's prototype benchmark requires at least 10 logical qubits performing 1,000 hard operations, whilst the first-generation target is 100 logical qubits performing 100,000 operations. Logical qubits differ from the physical qubits in existing systems (Caltech demonstrated 6,100 physical qubits); they work by grouping multiple physical qubits into error-correcting systems. Companies like QuEra have already demonstrated architectures with 96 logical qubits and plan to release a system with over 256 by 2028, suggesting the DoE's targets may be achievable, though scepticism remains about meeting the 2028 deadline.