November 2025 brought a concentrated burst of U.S. quantum policy action: the Department of Energy renewed its five national quantum research centers with $625 million, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission urged Congress to adopt a “Quantum First” national goal by 2030, and a presidential executive order placed quantum information science among priority domains for a new DOE-led discovery platform. Beyond the United States, PQC migration timelines continued to solidify, with the UAE approving a national encryption policy mandating post-quantum transition and Japan’s National Cyber Command Office setting a 2035 government-wide PQC deadline. Singapore moved to secure hardware access by partnering with Quantinuum to host the Helios quantum computer, the first deployment outside the United States.
United States: DOE Commits $625 Million to Renew National Quantum Research Centers
What happened. On November 4, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $625 million to renew its five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers for a second five-year phase. Each center received $125 million through competitive peer review. The centers, originally established in 2020 under the National Quantum Initiative Act, cover quantum computing, simulation, networking, and sensing. Fiscal year 2025 funding of $125 million was confirmed, with outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.
Why it matters. The renewal represents the single largest quantum-specific federal funding action of 2025 and confirms that the second Trump administration is continuing, rather than curtailing, the research infrastructure built under its predecessors. The five centers anchor a distributed ecosystem linking national laboratories, universities, and industry partners. Renewal on schedule and at full funding sends a stabilizing signal to the U.S. quantum research workforce, particularly given concurrent uncertainty over broader federal science budgets. That said, the commitment is structured as authorization-dependent: only the first year’s funds are firm, leaving the remaining $500 million exposed to the annual appropriations process.
What remains unclear. Whether outyear funding will survive potential continuing resolutions or spending cuts in fiscal years 2026 through 2029. How the centers’ second-phase research agendas will align with the Genesis Mission platform announced later in November. Whether industry cost-share expectations have changed for the second phase.
Who should care. U.S. national laboratory directors, university quantum research groups, quantum hardware and software companies in center partnerships, congressional appropriators on energy and science subcommittees.
United States: USCC Recommends “Quantum First” National Goal by 2030
What happened. On November 18, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released its 2025 Annual Report to Congress, which included a “Quantum First” recommendation among its top ten proposals. The Commission called on Congress to establish a national goal of achieving quantum computational advantage by 2030 in three domains: cryptography, drug discovery, and materials science. It recommended significant new federal funding, workforce development programs including talent exchanges with allied nations, modernization of quantum research infrastructure, and creation of a Quantum Software Engineering Institute. The report was approved unanimously by all 12 commissioners.
Why it matters. The USCC’s framing represents the most explicit treatment of quantum technology as a strategic competition item in a formal congressional advisory product to date. By positioning quantum alongside semiconductor and AI competition with China, the Commission is effectively asking Congress to treat quantum policy as part of the broader technology statecraft portfolio rather than as a science-funding matter. The CHIPS Act analogy is deliberate: the Commission is arguing for a shift from distributed research grants to directed national capability-building. Whether Congress acts on this framing will depend on whether quantum can attract the same political urgency that semiconductors commanded in 2022. The Commission’s assumption that China is actively concealing progress in cryptographically relevant quantum computing sharpens the stakes for PQC migration efforts already underway.
What remains unclear. Whether any congressional committee will translate the recommendation into legislation in the current session. How the recommended funding levels compare to what the administration has requested. Whether the proposed Quantum Software Engineering Institute would sit within an existing agency or require new authorization. How the “Quantum First” framing interacts with the administration’s own draft quantum executive order, which had not been finalized by November.
Who should care. Congressional staff on science, armed services, and intelligence committees. Quantum computing companies seeking federal contracts. PQC vendors and integrators. Defense and intelligence community technology planners.
UAE: National Encryption Policy Approved with Post-Quantum Migration Mandate
What happened. On November 27, the UAE approved the National Encryption Policy and issued its executive regulation, mandating that government entities develop formally approved transition plans from traditional encryption methods to post-quantum cryptography. The UAE Cybersecurity Council was designated as the central authority overseeing PQC migration. The regulation classifies government entities by priority levels for compliance and applies across government, defense, finance, healthcare, and aviation sectors. It requires cryptographic asset inventories and structured migration roadmaps.
Why it matters. The UAE is now among the first countries globally to move from PQC guidance to a binding regulatory instrument with a designated enforcement authority. Where the United States, EU, and Japan have issued timelines and recommendations, the UAE has coupled its timeline with classification of entities by compliance priority and a requirement for formal transition plans. The involvement of QuantumGate, an ATRC-backed entity, in three national programs supporting the transition suggests the UAE is also building domestic commercial capacity around PQC services. For multinational companies operating in UAE-regulated sectors, the policy creates compliance obligations that may precede equivalent requirements in their home jurisdictions.
What remains unclear. The specific compliance deadlines for each priority tier. Whether the regulation applies to private-sector entities in regulated industries or only to government bodies. How the policy interacts with existing telecommunications and financial services regulatory frameworks. What penalties, if any, attach to non-compliance.
Who should care. CISOs and compliance officers at organizations operating in the UAE. PQC vendors and managed security service providers in the Gulf region. Government technology procurement officials. Multinational banks, airlines, and healthcare companies with UAE operations.
Japan: NCO Sets 2035 Government PQC Transition Deadline
What happened. In November 2025, Japan’s National Cyber Command Office published an interim report concluding that all government agencies must complete their transition to post-quantum cryptography by 2035. The report highlighted the threat of “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks and outlined the ongoing work of CRYPTREC in determining the technical basis for government cryptographic measures. The NCO recommended cryptographic agility and the use of hybrid PQ/T schemes combining post-quantum and traditional cryptography during the transition period. A formal national PQC roadmap is expected by May 2027.
Why it matters. Japan’s 2035 deadline aligns it with the emerging international consensus among allied nations, joining the United States, EU, UK, and Canada in setting explicit government PQC transition targets. The recommendation of hybrid schemes during the transition period is consistent with NIST guidance and reflects a pragmatic approach to managing risk while standards and implementations mature. The gap between the interim report (November 2025) and the expected formal roadmap (May 2027) is notable: eighteen months of further planning before agencies receive actionable guidance. This delay may compress the effective migration window, particularly for complex legacy systems.
What remains unclear. Whether the 2035 deadline carries binding force or remains advisory pending the formal roadmap. How the timeline applies to Japan’s defense and intelligence systems, which may face different constraints. Whether the roadmap will include sector-specific guidance for critical infrastructure operators beyond government agencies. How Japan’s approach will interact with CRYPTREC’s own algorithm evaluation timeline.
Who should care. Japanese government IT procurement officials. Vendors selling cryptographic products into the Japanese public sector. Allied governments coordinating PQC transition timelines. Financial institutions and telecommunications operators in Japan.
Singapore: Quantinuum Partnership Positions Country as First Non-US Helios Host
What happened. On November 6, Singapore’s National Quantum Office and Quantinuum announced a strategic partnership under which Quantinuum will install its Helios quantum computer in Singapore by 2026, making it the first country outside the United States to host the system. Quantinuum will also establish an R&D and Operations Centre in Singapore. Researchers gained immediate cloud access to Helios while the physical installation was being prepared. Initial programs target computational biology, bioinformatics, drug discovery, financial modelling, and advanced materials.
Why it matters. Singapore’s strategy of securing physical access to frontier quantum hardware, rather than relying solely on cloud access, distinguishes it from most national quantum programs. Hosting a Helios system in-country gives Singaporean researchers and industry lower-latency access and avoids potential future constraints on cross-border data flows or export controls that could limit cloud-based arrangements. The partnership also positions Singapore as a regional hub where companies in Southeast Asia can access quantum computing resources. The simultaneous establishment of an R&D centre indicates Quantinuum sees Singapore not just as a customer but as a development site, a vote of confidence in the local talent pipeline built through a decade of investment in the Centre for Quantum Technologies and the newer National Quantum Strategy.
What remains unclear. The financial terms of the partnership and how costs are shared between the NQO and Quantinuum. Whether the in-country installation will be available to regional users beyond Singapore. How the partnership compares in scope and exclusivity to arrangements Quantinuum may pursue in other markets. Whether the initial application areas will produce publishable results within the first year.
Who should care. Quantum computing companies evaluating Asia-Pacific expansion. Pharmaceutical, financial services, and materials companies operating in Singapore. Competing national quantum programs in the region, particularly in South Korea, Japan, and Australia. Workforce development programs in Southeast Asia.
Also in November 2025
DARPA advanced 11 companies to Stage B of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, shifting the program from conceptual review to rigorous technical validation of whether a utility-scale quantum computer can be built by 2033. Separately, President Trump signed the Genesis Mission executive order on November 24, establishing a DOE-led national discovery platform that lists quantum information science among its priority domains alongside AI, biotechnology, and semiconductors.
Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Pasqal deployed the Kingdom’s first quantum computer at Aramco’s data center in Dhahran, a 200-qubit neutral-atom system described as the Middle East’s first quantum computer dedicated to industrial applications.
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation unveiled the Centre for Quantum Computing and Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a new node within the South African Quantum Technologies Initiative, with a stated long-term goal of contributing to Africa’s first quantum computer.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade launched a public consultation on proposed legislative changes to strengthen export controls, including new controls on intangible technology transfers covering quantum computing items on the Strategic Goods List. Submissions were due by January 16, 2026.
Croatia’s Ruder Boskovic Institute publicly demonstrated functional quantum communication building blocks developed entirely in Croatia under the CroQCI project, including QKD systems already operating on optical fiber in Zagreb.
Australia’s AUKUS partners completed successful trials of four Australian-developed quantum clocks at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., testing devices for GPS-denied navigation and communications synchronization under the AUKUS Pillar II framework.
In-depth cross-jurisdictional analysis, PQC migration timeline comparisons, and sector-by-sector implications for each development covered in this briefing are available to Quantum Policy Radar subscribers.