UK backs quantum with £500m
The UK government will pump over £500m into quantum computing and related technologies – a major show of confidence in a sector seen as critical to the future of the UK economy and its national security.
The investment forms part of Labour’s broader industrial strategy and follows April’s £121m pledge on ‘world quantum day’.
The new funding package aims to boost R&D, scale advanced quantum infrastructure, and accelerate commercialisation of applications like healthcare or defence.
“Backing our world-class quantum researchers and businesses is an important part of our plan for change“, said tech secretary Peter Kyle.
The UK is betting big on quantum to not only stimulate high-skilled jobs and private investment, but also to help shore up technological sovereignty in a fast moving global race dominated by the US and increasingly, China.
UK startups snapped up
The announcement comes just weeks after British quantum companies Oxford lonics and the quantum division of Oxford Instruments were acquired by American buyers – deals that have reignited fears about the UK’s ability to retain control over strategic tech assets.
“Making sovereign quantum computing capacity is important for both national security and economic resilience”, claimed Gerald Mullally, interim chief executive at Quantum Oxford Circuits.
Some have said that the new funding is also set to prevent such sell-offs, signalling long-term government backing for homegrown scale-ups.
“The global race for quantum computing is reaching prime time”, said Richard Murray, chief executive of Orca Computing. “Several other countries are putting in sizeable commitments – if we’re not, we risk losing our head”.
Quantum to reshape finance, energy and the NHS
Quantum tech can perform calculations far beyond the reach of a classic compute, making it applicable to real-time optimisation of energy grids, drugs discovery or early dementia diagnosis.
It has already been tested to improve the tracking of the London underground, and government advisers have said it could save the economy millions, while transforming public services.
Yet, quantum remains largely unregulated – unlike AI, which has seen intensifying policy attention in the UK and EU.
But as capabilities scale, officials are expected to explore governance and safeguards for national security.
Quantum has been placed at the forefront of the government’s ambition to level up regional innovation clusters, with the UK boasting the second-largest quantum startup ecosystem globally, behind just the US, with hubs in Oxford, Bristol and Glasgow.
The department of science, innovation and technology claimed these hubs were critical to translating “deep science into deep growth”.
“Quantum is much more of a game changer for humanity as AI or the internet”, claimed Tom Grinyer, chief executive of the Institute of Physics. “We cannot let our advantage slip”.