Investing in National Assets for Quantum Commercialization

Commentary by Hideki Tomoshige and Phillip Singerman

Published March 16, 2026

The United States stands at a pivotal moment in the global race to commercialize quantum information science and technology (QIST). While China and other competitors are rapidly scaling their capabilities through sustained investment, strategic talent, and industrial development, the United States still retains unparalleled strengths-its world-leading research institutions, deep and broad talent base, robust private sector innovation ecosystem, and many years of accumulated scientific returns.

These advantages are built on decades of public investments and recent private sector investments. But as quantum technologies advance and as global competition continues to grow, the United States must continue to leverage its current advantages and invest more national resources in quantum, particularly in these five areas:

1. Foundational Research Funding and Infrastructure: The ability to generate groundbreaking results in quantum hinges on greater investment in research and infrastructure.
2. Development-Weighted Infrastructure: Shared-use quantum infrastructure is needed to bridge basic research and commercialization by enabling prototyping, tests, and small-batch manufacturing.
3. Workforce: Quantum is science-driven and heavily reliant on technical expertise. Approximately half of founders of quantum businesses hold a PhD. Building this expertise requires significant time and cost.
4. Translators to Communicate Between Suppliers and Users: There are many technical terms used in the quantum industry that management boards, business development teams, and policymakers do not understand. There is a need to translate technical language and develop practical narratives so that end-users can better understand the promise and policy issues involved in advancing quantum technologies.
5. Demand Signals: Because QIST involves high technical uncertainty and requires significant time for research and development (R&D), it requires stable, long-term government support to create demand signals for investors.

Preserving U.S. leadership in quantum will require renewed national commitment in all of these areas. This commentary examines why such investments are urgent and outlines the critical policy actions required to ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of quantum innovation.

Investing in Foundational R&D

Sustained, flexible investment in both large-scale and small-scale quantum R&D-along with the infrastructure that supports it-is essential for advancing quantum technology, because breakthroughs arise not only from major research programs but also from small, agile teams using innovative approaches. This enables quantum companies not to chase excessive short-term views demanded by shareholders and follow long-term R&D roadmaps.

While commercialization of QIST has begun in some areas, many technical and engineering challenges across five application areas remain unsolved. QIST is still in a phase where successful science and research outcomes can define the future impact of the field.

In this regard, the United States is home to significant quantum research capabilities. Notably, the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) host JILA, the leading knowledge base for precision timing and electrical measurement. Four Nobel laureates in physics have been involved in research at JILA, illustrating the fruits of long-term investments in the institute's ability to carry out quality research. Nobel Prizes typically involve a time lag of several years to decades between the publication of an achievement and the award.

Major leaps can also result from small-scale, speedy, and adaptable research teams who use established tools in unconventional ways and iterate through unanticipated steps to refine new processes or methods. For example, the 1980s quantum physics research that led to the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics began in John Clarke's lab at UC Berkeley with one professor, one postdoc, and one student. The innovation system in the United States also provides this flexibility. Maintaining funding for both large and small projects remains important to create pathways to further innovation.

Continued investments in such small-scale research infrastructure are therefore equally important. The National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee has highlighted the value of providing small funding amounts of $1 to $5 million in small- and mid-sized investments of $5 to $25 million to support this small-scale research infrastructure.

Research Infrastructure and Facilities

At the same time, key federal research facilities-especially those at NIST-need to be urgently upgraded to ensure future scientific productivity, safety, talent retention, and the nation's ability to compete in quantum research.

• The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Commerce under the Trump administration concluded that "outdated, dilapidated NIST facilities have long threatened the bureau's mission performance as well as its workers' health and safety. In FY 2026, NIST continues to face the challenge of addressing its facilities' significant issues while trying to play its crucial role in advancing technology."
• The FY 2025 budget summary from the Republican-led House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology states that deteriorating buildings and infrastructure threaten NIST's mission. The summary calls for increased funding for "Construction and Major Renovations," and "Safety, Capacity, Maintenance, and Major Repairs."
• Many NIST facilities were built in the 1950s and 1960s and are now showing signs of age. Problems include aging heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical systems. Poor facility maintenance led to an incident in 2020, when a steam distribution line that exceeded its operational lifespan led to an explosion at NIST's headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. As the OIG points out, "Outdated facilities that may not conform to modern building codes create safety and health concerns for NIST's workforce and have led to millions of dollars in equipment damage . . . These issues not only contribute to productivity losses of up to 40 percent for NIST researchers, they also may impact NIST's ability to attract and retain research talent."

Restoration, modernization, and expansion of NIST facilities are essential to fulfilling its institutional mission of "advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life."

Similar backlogs have been noted for the research facilities of the Department of Defense (DOD).

• In May 2022, Representative Jim Langevin, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems, cited a more than $5.7 billion research infrastructure investment backlog.
• This challenge still persists in 2025. For example, as part of its FY 2025 Unfunded Requirements, the DOD requested additional funding from Congress for research, development, testing, and evaluation infrastructure. During deliberations on the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the House Appropriations Committee also noted that it "remains concerned with funding for Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization being repurposed throughout the fiscal year."

The details of how much funding is needed to modernize and expand NIST and DOD quantum-related research facilities are not publicly available.

Congress and federal agencies should evaluate the details of outdated quantum research infrastructure and fund construction of research facilities, if needed. Conducting quantum R&D at outdated facilities harms productivity at a time of rapidly increasing competition globally, particularly with China. A long-term investment framework dedicated to providing the infrastructure needs for scientific and technological research is critical.

Infrastructure's Role in Speeding up Commercialization

Testbeds and foundries are essential for accelerating the commercialization of quantum technologies, but because they are expensive to build and maintain, most quantum companies cannot create them on their own-so sustained federal investment is necessary to keep these facilities cutting edge and accessible.

Testbeds provide shared, lower-cost access to advanced testing and evaluation environments, allowing firms to iterate faster and more efficiently. Quantum technologies require cross-layer codesign. This means, for example, testing cryogenic platforms-which can take between six and twelve months-alongside radio frequency wiring, control electronics, detectors, and other subsystems together as an integrated platform. Testbeds would help speed up these processes.

Foundries can achieve the rapid production of valuable semiconductors, such as photonic-integrated chips, which can take three months to produce. A foundry is needed to establish a manufacturing line capable of producing such components more quickly. Such a facility also needs to collaborate with commercial foundries, from the prototyping of new chips to mass production.

While the United States has a number of cutting-edge quantum technology testbeds and foundries, maintaining their state-of-the-art capabilities will require predictable, sustained federal funding.

New quantum prototyping facilities are emerging, but they require ongoing federal support. New national initiatives expected in the near term include a quantum prototyping facility, which would be supported by the DOD's Microelectronics Commons for Quantum and NIST's Quantum Technology Accelerator Hub. Establishing such a facility would strengthen quantum device manufacturing and prototyping capabilities in the United States.

Testbeds and foundries quickly become obsolete, so one-time funding is insufficient. Testbeds and foundries like these should be elevated to the status of national critical infrastructure and receive expanded federal budget support. One lesson from the 1980s National Science Foundation (NSF) Supercomputer Center Program is that hardware constantly faces rapid obsolescence and requires continual reevaluation and upgrades. In the rapidly evolving quantum field, a one-time capital investment for testbeds and foundries is not wise. A mechanism for long-term funding and appropriations for tech infrastructure is needed.

These facilities should be linked into a national, interoperable network. More broadly, as a national strategy, federally funded testbeds and foundries must be interconnected with R&D talent from the private sector, suppliers, end-users, capital, and others. In the long term, the United States should merge these isolated points of national capability into a connected network as a national priority. This would enable any regional startup to seamlessly access resources-such as testbeds and foundries-optimal for their specific technological stage. The federal government should start to discuss practical and effective ways to connect regional assets.

Collaboration with U.S. allies is important to reinforce leadership. The United States should work with its allies and partners to strengthen its leadership in quantum. For example, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the DOD to jointly conduct research, development, testing, and evaluation of emerging technologies, including quantum technologies, with covered partner countries to meet emerging defense challenges. This initiative would allow the United States to collaborate closely with other countries and regions-including Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom-on quantum efforts.

Ecosystem Development and Public-Private Partnership Mechanisms

A strong and competitive U.S. quantum industry will require a network of regionally anchored ecosystems. This diversified, ecosystem-based approach provides a portfolio approach, allowing for flexibility for scientific advances and helping to cultivate diversity and resiliency in research, innovation, commercialization, investment, and talent development.

Indeed, quantum ecosystems are beginning to form organically across multiple regions, including California; the Mountain West region, represented by Colorado; and the Midwest region, represented by Illinois, Maryland, and New York. Within these regions, anchor institutions, suppliers, multiple end-users (e.g., defense, finance, pharmaceuticals, materials, and logistics), infrastructure, talent, and capital interact. Sustained federal and state support with a decades-long timescale, not a two- to three-year timeframe, for specialized activities within each of these regions will be essential to drive innovation, commercialization, workforce development, and broad economic impact.

A diverse user-base is also essential to strengthen the U.S. quantum ecosystem. Opening up national laboratories' cutting-edge facilities, knowledge, and talent to regional private companies and universities will increase the laboratories' end-user base and dramatically increase the opportunities for public-private collaboration. For example, Oak Ridge National Laboratory currently operates the Quantum Computing User Program (QCUP), which provides researchers and partner institutions with access to quantum computers.

Another program, called the Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology (QUEST) Program, provides selected researchers at U.S. domestic sites (universities, national laboratories, and in some cases corporate researchers) with access to resources for quantum R&D. While the CHIPS and Science Act authorized this nationwide program, it has yet to receive budget appropriations.

Further improvements in public-private partnership and technology transfer can build on NIST's April 2019 green paper, "Return on Investment Initiative for Unleashing American Innovation." The paper offers several key suggestions that are applicable to the quantum field:

• Streamlined Licensing: Government licensing processes for commercialization are currently lengthy and complex due to factors such as multilevel approval processes. A fast-tracked, straightforward pathway for quantum companies would be beneficial.
• Stronger IP Incentives: Ensuring strong IP protection for inventors is an impactful tool for incentivizing private investment in R&D. NIST's April 2019 green paper recommends improvements in how IP is handled and organized within federal research institutions. This includes copyright protection for software products of federal labs and an expanded protection period for proprietary information under a cooperative R&D agreement.
• Talent Mobility: Entrepreneurial leave, sabbaticals, and public-private talent-exchange programs would help foster a workforce fluent in technology transfer.
• Knowledge Commons for Best Practices: Agencies across government such as NIST, the Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships are accumulating best practices in technology transfer and IP. A knowledge commons could be established to help share and systematize these best practices. This clarity and transparency would enable any quantum organization to instantly reference and adopt partnership models that work for the quantum sector.

Conclusion

The United States stands at a decisive moment in the global competition to commercialize quantum information science and technology. Decades of public investment, world class research institutions, and the emergence of multiple high-performing regional innovation ecosystems have positioned the country as a leader in quantum. Yet this position is neither assured nor self sustaining. U.S. leadership will depend on deliberate choices-especially in how the federal government deploys its resources and organizes its role.

A comprehensive national commitment is required. This includes sustained investment in foundational research; modernization and expansion of critical research infrastructure; development-weighted facilities that accelerate prototyping and manufacturing; cultivation of a diverse and highly skilled quantum workforce; and mechanisms that strengthen translation between researchers, suppliers, end-users, and policymakers. But supply-side support alone is insufficient. Quantum commercialization requires patient capital and long development timelines-conditions that stable, credible demand signals from the federal government can foster.

By acting simultaneously as an R&D investor, ecosystem enabler, and early demand creator, the U.S. government can help ensure that breakthroughs move beyond the laboratory and into operational systems, competitive firms, and resilient supply chains. The economic, scientific, and national security benefits will accrue only if today's advantages are matched with long-term commitment.

CSIS's Renewing American Innovation program is undertaking a review of the U.S. Quantum Opportunity, as requested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and in cooperation with the Quantum Economic Development Consortium.

Hideki Tomoshige is a fellow with Renewing American Innovation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Phillip Singerman is a senior adviser (non-resident) with Renewing American Innovation at CSIS.

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