PsiQuantum, a California-based startup, has announced a concrete plan for a modular quantum computer using photons instead of superconducting qubits. The machine — housed in a facility that looks like a data center crossed with an ice cream factory — uses liquid helium to cool stainless-steel cabinets to just a few degrees above absolute zero. Their stated goal: scale to millions of qubits within a few years, bypassing the physical limits of current silicon-based or trapped-ion systems.
The news comes from MIT Technology Review (July 2026) and is a wake-up call for anyone in Europe who thinks the quantum race is still far away. It is not.
Why it matters. Quantum computing is the next frontier in data processing. Cryptography, logistics, pharma, finance — everything will be disrupted. While the United States pours billions through private companies (PsiQuantum, IBM, Google) and government agencies (DARPA, NSF), Europe remains fragmented: national projects, EU calls that reward research but not industrialization. Italy, in particular, spends crumbs: a few tens of millions total, versus American billions. For Italian SMEs — 99% of the productive fabric — the concrete consequence is clear: in 5-10 years quantum technologies will be a competitive factor, but we risk buying them from abroad, just as we already do with cloud, semiconductors, and AI. Worse: sensitive data security (payments, healthcare, public administration) will be exposed if the cryptographic machines are not ours.
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Our position is clear:
Europe cannot limit itself to funding research hubs and PhD grants. We need concrete industrial projects, Starlink-style or PsiQuantum-style. Italy, in particular, must stop chasing yet another “innovation fund” without a vision. We have an ecosystem of manufacturing and pharma SMEs that could hugely benefit from quantum computing — supply chain optimization, new materials development, molecular simulations. But without a national plan and a public-private alliance, we will remain consumers of others' technology, not producers. Digital sovereignty isn't a slogan: it's the ability to decide how and when to use a critical technology. If we don't invest now, in ten years we'll pay royalties for every quantum algorithm run on US or Chinese servers.
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What to do, right now. If you are a developer or digital entrepreneur: start understanding quantum computing fundamentals — you don't need to be a physicist, but grasp the applications (Qiskit, Cirq, Amazon Braket). If you are a policymaker: stop funding 100 tiny projects and focus on one or two major quantum hubs with serious budgets. If you run an SME: don't buy quantum hardware yet, but prepare your data infrastructure to be compatible when it arrives. And above all: demand that Europe invests like the US invests. The digital divide is not just geographical: it's political. And right now European politics is standing still.
