The US Department of Energy has announced an ambitious goal to deliver the first fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of scientifically relevant calculations by 2028. Rather than building it internally, the agency plans to contract quantum computing companies, leaving hardware design choices open — superconducting qubits, trapped ions, or neutral atoms all remain viable. The system would be hosted at a national laboratory for researcher access. While Google's Willow chip demonstrated practical quantum error correction in late 2024, experts note massive scaling challenges remain. A critical talent shortage compounds the difficulty: only 600–700 quantum error correction specialists exist globally, but the industry may need up to 16,000 by 2030, with training taking up to a decade.
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