Earlier this month, a research team from China’s University of Science and Technology officially published findings on Zuchongzhi 3.0, a 105-qubit quantum computer that performed benchmark tasks one million times faster than Google’s latest published quantum computing results. Just months earlier, Google’s Willow processor had completed a problem in five minutes that would take today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years.

These breakthroughs aren’t just engineering triumphs – they signal a fundamental shift in the global technological landscape. In a year the United Nations declared the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the timing could not be more telling. Despite numerous challenges, the development of full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers is closer than ever to being reality.

This leap forward holds immense promise for breakthroughs in fields such as climate modelling, materials science and pharmaceuticals. However, it also presents an urgent threat to the cryptographic systems that underpin global security, from encrypted military communications to financial transactions.