What Signals Did QWC 2026 Send?

On September 23–25, Quantum World Congress, or QWC, was held in College Park, Maryland.

During the conference, Infleqtion announced 30 logical qubits on a neutral-atom quantum computer. Many companies discussed error correction, interconnects and software. Element Six, or E6, also presented its diamond quantum technology.

My impression was that the center of gravity in the industry discussion is moving from “can the technology work?” toward “can it become a system that can be manufactured, connected and used?” This does not mean that quantum computing has become commercial, or that its hardest technical problems have been solved. It means that people are beginning to discuss a different set of problems.

1. The numbers still matter, but the unit has changed

Infleqtion used 80 physical neutral atoms to implement 30 logical qubits and plans to reach 100 logical qubits by 2028. Strictly speaking, this is still a comparison of numbers, but the unit has changed from physical qubits to logical qubits.

The system also ran an IQP benchmark circuit involving roughly 1,000 physical operations. It was not an algorithm with an established practical use.

Physical qubits are prone to errors. A logical qubit combines multiple physical qubits under an error-correction scheme to produce a more reliable unit. The important change is therefore that the evaluation dimensions are expanding. In addition to the number of logical qubits, people are beginning to focus on how many physical qubits the encoding requires, error rates, error-correction overhead and how many operations can be executed continuously.

2. Manufacturing and interconnects are entering the discussion

Words familiar from the semiconductor industry—manufacturing, foundry, supply chain and interconnect—were noticeably more prominent at the conference.

On the manufacturing side, Anderson is an IBM-backed pure-play quantum wafer foundry using 300 mm wafers. Shortly before the meeting, it secured USD 1 billion in CHIPS funding, with IBM committing another USD 1 billion. It will initially make superconducting-qubit wafers and may expand to other technology routes later.

On the interconnect side, Icarus Quantum, the second-place company in the startup competition, is working on photonic interconnects for quantum data centers. Its aim is to connect cryogenic quantum processors with fiber networks.

A company calling itself a quantum foundry does not mean that the industry is already as mature as semiconductors. It suggests the opposite: a high-performing laboratory machine is not enough. The industry must answer how to manufacture in batches, package and test the devices, and connect modules.

Semiconductors went through a similar transition. As chips improved, packaging, interconnects, equipment and materials became increasingly important. It is too early to know whether quantum technology will follow the same path, but system engineering has clearly entered the conversation.

3. Application questions are becoming more specific

The winner of this year’s startup competition was not a company competing mainly on quantum-computer performance. Qubic is building quantum microwave hardware for remote sensing, radar and communications, with the goal of improving the detection of weak signals.

The second-place company was the Icarus project mentioned above. The third, SeQure Quantum, focuses on quantum random numbers and quantum security. The seven finalist companies came from six countries.

The so-called quantum industry is splitting into different products and markets: computing, sensing, communications and security, along with the photonic devices, cryogenic systems, manufacturing and testing that support them.

Once the directions split, the questions become concrete. What problem is being solved? How much better is the solution than the existing one? What does it cost? Why must the customer switch?

These questions are less eye-catching than another quantum-bit breakthrough, but they cannot be avoided on the way into an industry.

4. Where does diamond fit?

This was the most direct reason I followed this QWC. On September 24, E6 quantum-technology lead Matthew Markham presented the company’s diamond quantum technology. I will leave the detailed content for a separate analysis; for now, three observations stand out.

First, the scope was broader than another NV-center demonstration. E6 placed synthetic diamond in three areas: sensing, networking and computing. Sensing examples included healthcare, navigation and semiconductor diagnostics. Networking included thin-film diamond and SiV centers for quantum interconnects.

Second, E6 did not enter the argument over which route will become the quantum computer. It gave diamond another position: a core material in sensors, a photonic interface in quantum nodes and a foundational material for future quantum hardware.

Third, the presentation emphasized scalable manufacturing and compatibility with semiconductor processes. This is the same kind of question raised by Anderson and by interconnects. The issue is not only whether a device can be made, but whether it can be made repeatedly and stably at scale.

Anderson is currently focused first on the superconducting route. For diamond to enter the same manufacturing language, it will also have to demonstrate what “compatibility” means in practice.

There were many results and announcements at the conference, but the boundaries still matter. A company roadmap does not mean that a market has formed. Making a material device does not mean that it can be manufactured at scale. Completing a demonstration does not mean that sufficient commercial demand has been found.

The most useful thing to record about diamond at this QWC is therefore not that a diamond-quantum industry has suddenly taken off. It is that diamond is trying to move from a quantum material in the laboratory into the engineering system of quantum sensing, interconnects and hardware manufacturing.

There is still a long distance between those two points.

If I had to summarize the signal from QWC 2026 in one sentence, it would be this: quantum technology is still chasing breakthroughs, but the industry is beginning to care more about what happens after the breakthrough—how to actually make the thing.