Former GCHQ chief joins Oxford quantum start-up amid race against China
The former head of GCHQ has joined the board of an Oxford quantum computing start-up as Britain vies with China and the US for an edge developing the cutting-edge supercomputers.
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) has appointed Sir Jeremy Fleming, who led the spy agency until 2023, as a director. The start-up has raised more than £100m to build a fleet of advanced quantum computers, some of which are already being tested by customers.
Its plans pit it against US technology giants including Google and IBM, which are working on their own quantum machines, and China, where Beijing is directing efforts to develop its own version of the technology.
Quantum computing aims to exploit the properties of quantum physics to develop machines that are far superior to current, classical supercomputers. So far, these computers have had only limited use cases and are prone to errors, but there are hopes they could help revolutionise scientific study, finance and drug discovery.
The technology is also the subject of national security scrutiny, given these computers could in theory be used to crack the world's most advanced encryption algorithms, presenting a hacking threat if used by a hostile state.
Sir Jeremy was appointed to lead GCHQ, the UK's signals intelligence agency, in 2017, heading up the organisation for six years. He previously worked at MI5 on counter-terrorism and led its security efforts for the London Olympics. His appointment shows the keen interest the national security establishment has taken in the development of quantum technology.
Gerald Mullaly, interim chief executive of OQC, said: 'We are absolutely delighted that Sir Jeremy is joining our board. It reinforces the absolute significance of quantum computing to national security and defence, not only in terms of our focus on those sectors, but also for the UK and the country's economic resilience.'
The UK has pledged to spend £2.5bn developing quantum computing by 2033, although this is eclipsed by the estimated £11bn that China has confirmed it is spending on the technology. The US innovation agency Darpa, meanwhile, has said it plans to spend $1bn acquiring a quantum computer over the next decade.
There are fears in the industry that UK funding for the nascent technology could come under pressure from Rachel Reeves's upcoming spending review.
OQC has built and operates several quantum computers, including the only quantum computer in the UK in a data centre.
Mr Mullaly said he believed the company would have a quantum computer by 2028 that could run millions of quantum operations at once and far surpass the capabilities of any traditional supercomputer on the planet.
Crucial applications could include cyber defence, with a quantum computer able to spot tiny anomalies that traditional computer systems would miss. The computers could also be used for fraud detection, helping banks better block billions of pounds in false transactions.
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