RESOURCE
DARPA advanced Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ to Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, joining Microsoft and PsiQuantum, where government evaluators will test whether each proposed large scale quantum computer can be built and operated as intended against a 2033 target.
Fabric Networks
Start with a conversation about your cryptographic posture.
On October 7, 2026 DARPA announced that Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ have entered Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, joining Microsoft and PsiQuantum, which advanced earlier through the US2QC pilot. That puts six approaches (neutral atoms, trapped ions, silicon spin qubits, superconducting processors and others) into the program's final stage.
The initiative asks whether any quantum computing approach can reach utility scale operation, meaning its computational value exceeds its cost, by 2033. In Stage C, government evaluators work with each team to check that the proposed system can actually be built and operated as intended; DARPA describes it as the point where the program moves from plans to proof. Reaching Stage C is a program milestone, not evidence that a machine able to break today's public key cryptography exists.
Six serious engineering programs now have a US government evaluator checking their build plans against a 2033 target. Nobody can tell you the year a quantum computer breaks RSA, and nobody needs to. Data that must stay confidential for ten years and crosses your network today is already inside the window. Long lived equipment, long lived secrets. Assess this fall, budget in 2027, secured by January 2028.