US Energy Department Offers $215 Million for Quantum Computers as AI Power Demand Tops 1,000 TWh
Updated
Updated · OilPrice.com · Nov 11
US Energy Department Offers $215 Million for Quantum Computers as AI Power Demand Tops 1,000 TWh
3 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · Nov 11
Summary
$215 million in new US Department of Energy funding is backing domestic efforts to build the first reliable quantum computer, with proposals now open under its Quantum Genesis competition.
The push targets machines with at least 100 logical qubits capable of hundreds of millions of fault-tolerant operations, while a parallel DOE testbed program asks national labs to verify quantum-computing performance.
DOE's move comes as AI-driven data-center electricity demand is projected to jump from 460 TWh in 2024 to more than 1,000 TWh in 2030 and 1,300 TWh in 2035.
Quantum systems still consume significant power and often need cryogenic cooling, but advocates say they could handle some AI workloads far more efficiently than today's GPU-heavy data centers.
Australia is also pushing the field, with startup Diraq running what it says is the first data-center quantum field test in Sydney and predicting practical deployment within five years.