The emerging integration of quantum computing power and artificial intelligence promises to push the technological frontier even further. While the United States leads the advance, China and the European Union (EU) compete for supremacy in this field. On December 9, 2024, Google presented Willow, a quantum processor capable of solving in less than five minutes a problem that would require the world’s fastest computers 10 septillion years, a figure that far exceeds the estimated age of the universe. Just a few months later, on May 18, 2025, NVIDIA inaugurated in Japan what is described as the world’s largest quantum research supercomputer. This hybrid system, composed of traditional computers and quantum processors, has its activities coordinated by artificial intelligence (AI). These are the two most recent stages of the vigorous acceleration driving Quantum AI, that is, the combination of quantum computing power and artificial intelligence. This technological revolution, although still considered an ambitious promise, is destined to transform economies and societies on a global scale.
The great strength of quantum computing lies in the fact that, unlike traditional computers that process information using bits with values of 0 or 1, quantum processors use qubits, which can simultaneously assume multiple values, allowing for a much larger number of calculations. Although for certain tasks powerful traditional computers are still more effective, in some fields quantum computing could solve currently unsolvable problems or perform complex simulations. However, it is necessary to use the conditional, since current quantum calculations suffer from errors that require sophisticated correction methods to obtain reliable results. It is here that artificial intelligence is making an important contribution, through algorithms that optimize the functioning of the processors, allow more efficient management of information, correct errors, and even autonomously design more performant circuits. On the other hand, the alliance with AI, quantum computers offer a solution to the limits of traditional hardware to improve AI applications, providing more resources for data analysis and model training. In this synergy, the two technologies complement each other and can drive each other towards new technological milestones.
The interest in the developments of this combination has been certified by the decision of the United Nations to declare 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technologies, with the objective of raising public awareness about the importance and impact of quantum science and applications in all aspects of life. Beyond multilateral initiatives of collaboration and awareness, the growing strategic value of Quantum AI has triggered a global competition involving governments, large companies, and research centers. The United States currently has leadership based on its supremacy in both the quantum and AI fields. The private technology giants, especially IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, lead this race. IBM holds the largest number of quantum patents filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), going from 63 patents in 2013 to 790 in 2023. Google, for its part, has developed in collaboration with NASA the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab and has set out to launch to the market, in 2029, the first Quantum AI applied to real problems in the sectors of pharmaceuticals, energy, and materials. Traditionally, Washington relies on the driving role of the private sector, but it has also identified quantum computing as an area to support with public funds, while limiting access to these technologies by its adversaries. In December 2024, with a bipartisan vote, Congress approved the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, which allocates 2.7 billion dollars over five years to advance practical applications of quantum technology, with a particular focus on implications for national security. This legislation expands the scope of previous measures approved in 2018 and shifts attention from basic research to more concrete applications.
In October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced severe restrictions on certain types of investment and the transfer of knowledge to foreign companies (for now only Chinese) operating in this field. These restrictions add to those imposed in September 2024 by the Department of Commerce on the export of sensitive technologies for the development of quantum processors. Washington’s fears are directed towards China, which already in its 2016 Five-Year Plan included quantum technology among the priority scientific projects. In the subsequent plan, up to 2025, quantum information science was classified as the second key area among emerging technologies, just after artificial intelligence and before semiconductors. Public budgets demonstrate the relevance that Beijing assigns to this field. According to McKinsey data, in 2023 state investments amounted to 15.3 billion dollars, far above the 3.8 billion of the U.S. This support has led Chinese researchers to file more patents than the United States and Europe combined. However, this absolute leadership is diminished by the fact that 60% of the patents applied for or cited in scientific works are of U.S. origin. The enormous production of patents is due to the predominant role of universities and research institutes in China’s quantum ecosystem, while private company initiatives have experienced some setbacks. In 2024, large groups such as Alibaba and Baidu decided to close their quantum labs, donating the facilities to public entities. The exact reasons for this decision are difficult to pinpoint. Some analysts attribute it to Beijing’s attempt to centralize at the state level the development of a technology considered strategic and very sensitive. Others interpret it as an indication of a slowdown in enthusiasm for a sector that, although it offers promising scenarios, offers limited benefits in the short term. Skeptics argue that the announced revolution is premature and that practical applications, which would also bring economic returns, are limited to a few experiments in very specific fields. Moreover, quantum processors are expensive, fragile, and require extreme conditions (temperatures close to absolute zero) to function efficiently.
Despite these uncertainties, the contribution of artificial intelligence is transforming the quantum sector into the next technological competition ground between the two superpowers. In a future scenario in which only the United States and China have advanced processors, the rest of the world will be forced to choose between one or the other to benefit from the applications. This perspective concerns the European Union and is pushing it to build its own quantum autonomy. In 2018, the European Union launched the Quantum Flagship program, a decade-long initiative with a budget of one billion euros, which has already funded numerous projects from universities, research centers, and companies. In December 2023, the European Commission promoted the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies, in which governments committed to further strengthening cooperation and investments, with the objective of turning the Old Continent into the world’s Quantum Valley. This ambitious goal is supported by a network of quantum computers installed in several countries, including Italy, through the EuroHPC initiative (European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking). This federated ecosystem of quantum infrastructures and supercomputing offers advanced applications and services to citizens, organizations, and companies. Last December, it was announced that the Innovate Consortium, led by CINECA (the Italian inter-university consortium that manages supercomputing infrastructures) and composed of seven Italian industrial partners from various sectors, was selected to host and manage the first industrial supercomputer of EuroHPC. The infrastructure will be installed at the Tecnopolo di Bologna, already home to the Leonardo supercomputer, also part of the European network. In addition to a solid tradition of academic research in the field of quantum, Italy has various excellences. In 2024, the Federico II University of Naples inaugurated the Superconducting Quantum Computing Center, a cutting-edge structure that is part of a network coordinated by the National Center for Supercomputing Research (ICSC). For Italy, as for all countries committed to the development of quantum, the challenge of the coming years will be to translate research into practical applications. The combination with artificial intelligence could facilitate this strategic transition, turning Quantum AI into a true revolution capable of shaping the economic development of countries, with a consequent increase in geopolitical competition for control of this technology.
