Quantum computing leverages the principles of quantum mechanics — such as superposition and entanglement — to solve complex problems far beyond the capacity of classical supercomputers.
The US quantum model raises horses that break fast out of the starting gate. Driven by the private sector, it funds multiple hardware architectures, applies rigorous “prove-it” performance standards, and accelerates the fastest survivors toward commercialization and national security readiness.
The European quantum model emphasizes endurance. It embeds quantum systems in government-run supercomputing networks and builds continent-spanning quantum communications infrastructure.
This quantum horse race is underway. Quantum sensing runs GPS-denied navigation. Quantum communications protect government and defense networks. Quantum optimization powers logistics and energy systems. American and European jockeys are racing seven different quantum technologies — and any could emerge victorious.
1. Superconducting Qubits: The Industrial Front-Runner
Superconducting qubits are already commercially available, backed by IBM, Google, and others. They operate at near-absolute-zero temperatures and enable rapid iteration cycles. The tradeoff is fragility: superconducting qubits are sensitive to noise and hard to scale without dramatic increases in error rates.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, launched in 2024, applies a “prove it” standard: any architecture, including superconducting systems, must demonstrate credible progress toward utility-scale performance by 2033 or lose the label of serious contender.
Europe’s EuroHPC embeds superconducting into national supercomputing infrastructure, most visibly through Germany’s procurement of an IQM quantum system. The goal is not to win a qubit-count competition, but to make quantum computing a practical tool within existing high-performance computing.
2. Trapped Ions: Precision and Reliability
Trapped-ion systems are precision athletes. Their qubits are highly stable, with lower error rates than most competing approaches. Still, they operate slowly, making them better suited to deep, high-accuracy computations than to high-throughput tasks. US companies such as IonQ and Quantinuum have demonstrated real progress.
The US and Europe are taking fundamentally different approaches to trapped ion development. Washington evaluates trapped-ion systems on the same benchmarks as every other qubit architecture — no special treatment. Europe, by contrast, is explicitly funding the path from research to manufacturable product, betting that trapped ions’ accuracy advantage makes them the right technology for high-value defense applications like cryptography and optimization.
3. Neutral Atoms: The Scalable Challenger
Neutral-atom systems trap and manipulate individual atoms using laser arrays, offering a compelling middle path that is more scalable than trapped ions and more controllable than superconducting qubits. Companies such as QuEra in the US and Pasqal in France have emerged as credible players. Although the technology is young, recent demonstrations of large-scale entanglement and programmable arrays have drawn serious attention.
4. Photonics: The Network-Native Pathway
Photonic quantum computing uses particles of light as qubits. It operates at room temperature, integrates with fiber-optic telecommunications infrastructure, and aligns with quantum networking and secure communications. The tradeoff is deep technical challenges that limit early use.
Europe has made its clearest quantum hardware bet in photonics. The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) is building a continent-spanning photonic quantum communications network. If it succeeds, Europe will win a durable comparative advantage in quantum-secured communications.
The US has invested in photonic quantum networking research but hasn’t pursued a national communications backbone. American efforts focus on developing quantum-secured military and intelligence communications rather than building civilian infrastructure.
5. Silicon Spin Qubits: The Semiconductor Leverage Play
Silicon spin qubits take a different approach to quantum computing. Rather than building entirely new hardware from scratch, they attempt to leverage the same manufacturing processes and materials already used to make conventional computer chips. The appeal is straightforward: if quantum processors can be built on existing semiconductor production lines, they could eventually be manufactured at massive scale and at far lower cost than competing approaches. Intel is the most prominent US investor betting on this pathway.
Progress has been slow. The US benefits from a large semiconductor industrial base and a venture capital ecosystem that can sustain parallel bets. Europe has made clear that it wants to keep any quantum manufacturing breakthroughs on home soil. ASML, the Dutch company that produces the lithography machines underpinning global chip manufacturing, is the most strategically positioned European player. Whether European manufacturers can match the scale of US semiconductor investment remains an open question.
6. Topological Qubits: The Moonshot
Topological quantum computing seeks to engineer qubits that are inherently resistant to errors by encoding quantum information in exotic physical states, rather than by deploying large amounts of additional computing power to constantly detect and fix mistakes. If it works, the payoff could be transformative: far fewer physical qubits than competing architectures would be needed to perform the same useful computations. If it fails, topological qubits will remain a scientific curiosity.
The US has historically been the natural home for this kind of high-risk, long-horizon research, with Microsoft’s topological qubit program the most prominent example. But Europe is not sitting it out. The EU’s Quantum Flagship program has funded foundational research into topological approaches at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, showcasing that the countries that lead in foundational science today may set the terms of the field tomorrow.
7. Special-Purpose Systems: The Near-Term Specialist
Quantum annealers are purpose-built for narrow tasks and logistics such as portfolio optimization, materials simulation, and energy grid management. American company D-Wave is the leading commercial player.
For policymakers, this pathway has immediate relevance. Neither the US nor Europe has deployed quantum systems at scale for operational use — these remain largely experimental. But both are actively working to identify where quantum hardware can deliver a practical edge today, even in limited form. The US is pushing vendors to demonstrate measurable results in real applications, not just laboratory benchmarks. Europe is taking a different route, physically co-locating quantum systems alongside conventional supercomputers, betting that embedding the two technologies together will surface useful applications faster, particularly in industrial and logistics sectors where European companies already have commercial depth.
Benchmarking Versus Backbone
The US strategy benchmarks capability and lets markets determine deployment. Europe builds infrastructure and lets procurement create demand. Neither approach is superior, but the results could diverge over time. The US model rewards speed and competition, favoring companies that can demonstrate results quickly, but risks leaving workforce development and standards-setting to chance. The European model moves deliberately, using public procurement to anchor industrial capacity at home and shape the emerging governance frameworks that will define the field globally. Who sets those rules matters as much as who builds the best hardware.
The winner will not have the highest qubit count. It will be the country or coalition that first translates quantum capabilities into narrow, operational deployments and uses them to lock in infrastructure, standards, and supply chains.
The winning strategy is not to wait for a universal quantum computer. It is to move first on specific applications where quantum effects already outperform classical systems. The horse that reaches practical deployment first, not the one with the most impressive specifications, will win.
Alicia Chavy is a Vice President at Beacon Global Strategies, a National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and a Board Member of the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. She specializes in national security, emerging technology policy, and geopolitical risk, with a particular focus on AI, quantum innovation, and emerging tech adoption. She holds a BS in Foreign Service and an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions expressed on Bandwidth are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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