TQI QuickBits: Supreme Claims. NIST's Backup Algorithm. And More News in Quantum.

Lots to process this week -- we have claims of quantum advantage and then, about two seconds later, counter-claims followed that argued classical approaches, with some finagling, could at least match the results. Then some counter-counter claims followed.

Does this sound familiar: Quantum advantage declared. Hype declared. Then a shrug -- and it's time to go back to work.

There are other names for this. It's a micro-version of the Gartner Hype Cycle, which is actually a hyped term for a common media effect that describes the surging and waning of media interest. It's also a twist on the hedonic treadmill, which suggests that no matter what happens to us, we return to a stable emotional state. Another name for this effect is the scientific method -- where claims are always subject to scrutiny and those new critiques, in turn, are critiqued.

In other words, this is all normal and, as long as it doesn't get too mean-spirited, can be healthy.

Stepping off my hedonic treadmill for a second, we want to congratulate Israel-based QuamCore , which has emerged from stealth with $9 million in seed funding.

Have a great weekend!

Quantum Events

March 20 -- NVIDIA's GTC 2025 featuring the inaugural Quantum Day event.

March 25-27 -- Quantum Australia Conference will be held in Brisbane.?The conference will explore the theme The Translation of Quantum – how current and future industries can leverage the power of quantum.

March 31-April 1 -- Qubits 2025, D-Wave’s annual user conference is themed “Quantum Realized” and will spotlight customer success stories, technical roadmap updates, scientific achievements, and advancements in quantum AI. The event takes place at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

April 2-4 -- NQCC’s Scalability in Quantum Computing Conference from 2nd-4th April 2025 in Oxford, UK.

April 14 -- The 2025 Global Industry Challenge officially launches on World Quantum Day, bringing together innovators, researchers, and industry leaders to tackle real-world problems in life sciences, financial services, energy, and beyond

April 14-16 -- QuantumTech Washington D.C. April 15-16 - Main Conference and Expo. April 14 - Cryptography Spotlight Day. Conrad Hotel, Washington D.C.

May 14-15 -- Q2B Tokyo 2025 The conference will cover a broad range of quantum technology themes including QC Computing, Communications & Sensing, Quantum AI, Error Correction, & Quantum in HPC.

May 20-22 -- Join us for the 3rd annual IQT Nordics, May 20-22, 2025 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and contribute to scaling quantum computers towards real world applications.

June 9-12 -- Adiabatic Quantum Computing (AQC) 2025 Conference will be held at the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada from June 9-12, 2025. The AQC conference series, now in its 14th year, is an annual international gathering of researchers working on diverse aspects of quantum computing.?

June 18-19 -- Quantum Now|ICI Quantique will be held in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

October 8?-- The Fifth Anniversary of?The City Quantum & AI Summit?at the Mansion House in the City of London takes place this year with the subtitle?Race for Growth.

Dec. 1-4 -- QUEST-IS 2025 Quantum Engineering Sciences and Technologies for Industry and Services From Quantum Engineering to Applications for Citizens. EDF Lab, Paris-Saclay, France

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Quantum Reads: Quantum Computing Strategy: Foundations and Applicability

Quantum Computing Strategy: Foundations and Applicability serves as an essential reference for understanding why quantum computing is important, its key concepts, and the most relevant use cases for enterprises. Designed as a self-contained learning resource, this book follows a guide-style approach, rich in visuals, examples, and analogies, making it ideal for those looking to re-skill and gain expertise in quantum computing.

Quotable Quantum

South Korea launches a South Korea launches a ?1 trillion -- about $687,670,400 US -- Science and Technology Innovation Fund, with a dedicated account allocating ?20 billion -- about $13.7 million -- annually for quantum startups over four years. The government plans to train 2,500 quantum researchers to expand the talent pipeline and strengthen national quantum capabilities.

“Quantum science and technology is a game-changing field from economic, societal, and national security perspectives. Quantum computing could break encryption systems, quantum communication can prevent information theft at the source, and quantum sensors can detect stealth submarines. These capabilities highlight the critical importance of quantum technology.” -- Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, South Korea

QuickBits Spotlight: Always Have a Plan B, Or In NIST's Case a Plan HQC

Key Points: What You Need to Know About HQC

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has selected the HQC (Hyperelliptic Curve Cryptography) algorithm as a backup quantum-resistant encryption method to complement ML-KEM, ensuring a second layer of defense against potential quantum computing threats.
• HQC is based on error-correcting codes and is fundamentally different mathematical approach compared to ML-KEM’s structured lattices. This diversity in encryption techniques is meant to provide a strategic alternative in case ML-KEM is compromised.
• NIST plans to release a draft HQC standard in 2026, with finalization expected in 2027. However, organizations should continue migrating to the encryption standards finalized in 2024.
• HQC was the only algorithm selected from NIST’s fourth-round candidates due to its clean and secure operation, despite requiring more computational resources than ML-KEM. HQC will join four previously selected algorithms under NIST’s Post-Quantum Cryptography project, which has been working on quantum-resistant encryption since 2016. The finalized standards FIPS 203, 204, and 205 are already in use.
• Key Encapsulation Mechanisms (KEMs) and HQC's Function HQC, like ML-KEM, is a Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM), which is used to establish a secure communication channel over a public network. This makes it essential for internet traffic protection and secure data exchange.
• NIST’s Guidance on KEM Implementation NIST has published draft guidance on KEMs in Special Publication 800-227, outlining best practices for implementation. A public workshop was held in February 2025, with the comment period closing on March 7, 2025.

Last year, NIST?standardized a set of encryption algorithms?that can keep data secure from a cyberattack by a future quantum computer. Now, NIST has?selected a backup algorithm?that can provide a second line of defense for the task of general encryption, which safeguards internet traffic and stored data alike.

Encryption protects sensitive electronic information, including internet traffic and medical and financial records, as well as corporate and national security secrets. But a sufficiently powerful?quantum computer, if one is ever built, would be able to break that defense. NIST has been working for more than eight years on encryption algorithms that even a quantum computer cannot break.

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The Big Story

D-Wave Stakes Claim on Quantum Supremacy For Real-World Problem

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, today announced a scientific breakthrough?published in the esteemed journal Science, confirming that its annealing quantum computer outperformed one of the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers in solving complex magnetic materials simulation problems with relevance to materials discovery. The new landmark peer-reviewed paper,?“Beyond-Classical Computation in Quantum Simulation,”?validates this achievement as the world’s first and only demonstration of quantum computational supremacy on a useful problem.

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Insider Looks: The State of State Funding

Quantum computing is one of the most complex, most expensive endeavors in human history. To bring it to market, is requiring patient investment. The most patient investors -- albeit not infinitely so -- are governments. The economic potential, along with the strategic potential and threat, simply makes quantum impossible to ignore and problematic not to nurture. The Quantum Insider's Intelligence Platform offers a compendium of government entities involved in the investment and development of quantum. The data is ideal for quantum organizations and businesses seeking support, governments interested in analyzing best practices, and much more.

Check out The Quantum Insider's Intelligence Platform today.

More QuickBits

QuamCore: Unstealthed and Seeded

Taming Exponential Complexity

Meow! Squeezing Cat Qubits

Quantum Pulses

Andhra Pradesh's Quantum Valley

QuamCore Emerges From Stealth

This is just the start of the news that The Quantum Insider is covering. Visit our site for more quantum research and business news... And subscribe to TQI's official weekly newsletter for a wrap up of all the news in quantum! ?Subscribe to The Daily Qubit for daily quantum tech research and news delivered daily to your inbox.

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