Saudi Arabia’s Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) announced quantum computing as one of three national moonshot goals at the LEAP 2025 conference in Riyadh on February 12, 2025. According to reporting by The National, the Kingdom set a target of developing a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2045. The other two moonshot missions were establishing five cognitive cities by 2040 and developing aligned artificial general intelligence by 2050.
RDIA Acting Head Dr. Mohammed Alotaibi presented the moonshot goals as part of the authority’s “Innovation Outlook in Economies of the Future” framework. The quantum computing initiative was to be complemented by the formation of a National Alliance for Quantum Computing.
According to RDIA’s website, the National Quantum Alliance was announced during LEAP 2025 as a collaborative platform bringing together leading Saudi institutions from government, academia, and industry. The Alliance’s stated goals included enabling national quantum sovereignty and advancing the Kingdom’s leadership in the global quantum economy, through a partnership with Aramco.