PsiQuantum has unveiled plans for a quantum machine made of over 100 cabinets cooled by liquid helium, using photons instead of superconducting circuits. This is no lab prototype: the company aims for a commercial system within a few years. The facility looks like a data center crossed with an ice cream factory – near absolute zero temperature, dozens of stainless-steel cabinets, and an approach that uses light to bypass quantum noise limitations.
The news arrives as the US and China accelerate quantum investments with multi-billion budgets. Europe? Nods, allocates scattered Horizon Europe funds, but lacks a decisive industrial strategy. Italy is even further behind: some university research projects, no concrete production chain, zero incentives for SMEs that could start preparing now.
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Why it matters
A quantum computer is not a TikTok gadget. It is the next critical infrastructure. Impact on cryptography, drug development, logistics, climate modeling. Whoever controls quantum computing power will control industrial competitiveness for the next twenty years. Latecomers pay with licenses, tech dependencies, and lost competitive edge.
For Italian SMEs – the ones we work with daily – quantum seems like science fiction. But it isn’t. Just like the web in the 90s, or generative AI in 2022. Those who ignored the digital revolution are still struggling to catch up. Same for quantum: if you don’t start studying its impact on supply chains, security, and algorithms now, you risk being blindsided when the technology matures.
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Our position: Europe cannot afford another delay
We, at Meteora Web, come from a region where the digital divide is a daily reality. We know what it means to be cut off from an infrastructure because someone decides “it will come in ten years.” Quantum will arrive in five, not ten. Europe must do two things: invest in photonics research (Italy has excellence in photonics – see CNR and University of Pavia) and create an ecosystem for businesses willing to experiment. No need to build a quantum computer in every region. We need to train talent, fund startups, and force Big Tech to share machine access.
PsiQuantum’s choice of light is not a technical detail: it is a bet on stability and scalability. If it works, we’ll have more error-resistant machines. If Europe doesn’t invest, we’ll buy licenses from American companies. Same as chips, same as cloud. Italy must put resources on the table. Not charity: vision.
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What to do
For developers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers reading this: start learning about quantum computing today. You don’t need to code a qubit. But understand how it will change encryption (and therefore your e‑commerce security), optimize logistics (and your shipping costs), transform materials simulation (and your products). Enroll in free courses from IBM, Qiskit, or regional digitalization grants. And ask your representatives: what is Italy doing to avoid being left in the dark while others turn on the lasers?
