National Quantum Initiative Act: An Important Step for American Leadership

A post by Bill Vass, Vice President of Storage, Automation and Messaging, AWS, and Simone Severini, Director, Quantum Computing, AWS

Quantum science offers amazing opportunities and will have profound impacts on society, the economy, and national security. Because of this, we are excited about and fully support the National Quantum Initiative Act. Greater quantum investment and a cohesive national quantum strategy are essential to ensuring American leadership in quantum science. This bipartisan legislation has received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, demonstrating the national priority of quantum science.

We applaud Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Chairman, Sen. John Thune, Ranking Member, Sen. Bill Nelson, Sen. Steve Daines, Sen. Cory Gardner, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Marco Rubio, House Science Committee Chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith, Ranking Member, Rep. Eddie Johnson, and all of the bill’s sponsors and contributors, including Senate Energy Committee Chairman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Ranking Member, Sen. Maria Cantwell, for taking an important step towards making quantum computing a reality and putting the full weight of American ingenuity into advancing this critical technology.

At AWS, we are motivated by what quantum technologies can do for our customers, be they a small business or a large government agency. We envision quantum computing being widely accessible as an integral part of the AWS Cloud so that all of our customers can benefit from it. Quantum computing, for instance, will increase the speed at which our customers can process complex scientific data in the cloud, which will enable unprecedented success in problem-solving, and supercharge research and development. This could lead to world-changing advancements in fundamental physics, medicine, biotechnology, material sciences, and energy, to name a few. The societal and economic benefits of quantum technologies will undoubtedly be immense.

We also recognize and are driven by the importance of quantum technologies to our national security customers; Amazon is fully dedicated to supporting our U.S. national security customers. As Jeff Bezos recently stated, “If big tech companies are going to turn their back on U.S. Department of Defense, this country is going to be in trouble.” The opportunities and dangers quantum technology presents to U.S. national security are significant. It is essential that the U.S. lead on developing quantum capabilities (e.g., quantum cryptography) and the means to secure systems of national importance from quantum threats. In keeping with our commitment to U.S. national security, AWS stands ready to support the National Quantum Initiative in ensuring the U.S. intelligence community and military acquire and deploy world-leading quantum technologies.