September 04, 2025
Sharper: Quantum
In the 21st century, the countries with the most advanced quantum technologies could have the most advanced weapons systems, pharmaceuticals, weather forecasting, and clean energy capabilities. In this edition of Sharper, CNAS experts unpack why quantum leadership is a critical component of America's competitiveness and strategic success in the years ahead.
Features:
Report | Atomic Advantage: Accelerating U.S. Quantum Sensing for Next-Generation Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
Quantum sensors offer a transformative opportunity not only to safeguard U.S. positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities against evolving threats but also to advance America’s broader technological ambitions. The United States stands at a pivotal juncture: With decisive, coordinated action, it can leapfrog adversaries by moving quantum sensing innovations rapidly from the lab to operational deployment. By adopting the recommendations of this report from Constanza Vidal Bustamente, policymakers can ultimately ensure that America’s leadership in quantum technologies endures—bringing substantial benefits to national security and long-term economic competitiveness in the emerging quantum era.
Watch It Again | Advancing America’s Quantum Leadership with Next-Generation Sensors
On Wednesday, August 27, CNAS hosted leading practitioners and policymakers to explore quantum sensors’ transformative potential across defense and commercial sectors. The panel discussed existing bottlenecks, the policy levers needed to accelerate U.S. development and adoption, as well as how early successes in sensing can catalyze advances in quantum supply chains and computing—sharpening America’s global quantum edge.
Report | The Quest for Qubits: Assessing U.S.-China Competition in Quantum Computing
Quantum technologies, with their unparalleled speed and processing power, could unlock transformative innovations in a range of industries, from energy and agriculture to medicine and finance. At the same time, however, irresponsible actors could use quantum technologies to break encryption, enable mass surveillance, and design new weapons systems. This report from Sam Howell finds that global advancements in quantum technology have profound implications for U.S. economic and national security. The United States needs a long-term strategy to boost its competitiveness in quantum technology and ensure that the technology develops in alignment with U.S. values and interests.
Reports
Atomic Advantage
Executive Summary One of the most consequential national security contests now unfolds on battlefields invisible to the naked eye—across the faint radiofrequency signals of th...
Event
Virtual Event | Advancing America’s Quantum Leadership with Next-Generation Sensors
Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante
Aug 27, 2025
Reports
The Quest for Qubits
The United Nations General Assembly recently declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Quantum information science, a field once exclusive to aca...
Commentary
Featuring insight and analysis from Constanza Vidal Bustamente and Sam Howell
Commentary
Accelerate America’s Quantum Technology Leadership
As the U.S.-China competition for quantum technology leadership continues to intensify, the Trump administration should prioritize both advancing and protecting the country’s ...
Commentary
Secure America’s Tech Competitiveness
The Trump administration must bolster America’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and broader technological competitiveness—documented shortag...
Subscribe!
Subscribe now to get Sharper in your inbox
Thank you for registering! You will receive a confirmation email shortly. All CNAS events are free, open to the public, and viewable from cnas.org/live.
Stay up-to-date with report releases, events, major updates, and announcements from the Center for a New American Security.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | Unpacking the H200 Export PolicyAI Chips for China With two new policies, President Donald Trump has implemented his pledge to allow sales of NVIDIA’s H200 AI chips to China in exchange for a quarter of the ...
By Janet Egan & James Sanders
-
Podcast
Indo-Pacific Security / Technology & National Security
AI and Policy, Both Foreign and DomesticIn an episode recorded just before Christmas, Darren interviews Janet Egan, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Technology and National Security Program at CNAS, about AI...
By Janet Egan
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Quantum Computing’s Industrial ChallengeThis article was originally published in Just Security. The United States, China, and Europe are preparing to refresh their national quantum programs in 2026, making this a pi...
By Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Unlike Giant Companies, Many Small Businesses Can’t Afford AI Infrastructure. This Bill Would HelpThis article was originally published in on NOTUS. Massive private investment has propelled America’s AI leadership, but it also raises thorny questions about the technology’s...
By Vivek Chilukuri
