IonQ will acquire Elisity in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion to integrate quantum security capabilities with enterprise Zero Trust microsegmentation. The combination supports US federal and critical infrastructure efforts to migrate to post-quantum cryptography under the June 22, 2026 Executive Order. Closing is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026 subject to
QNu Labs, BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar generated secure keys over 5.56 km of open air on the night of September 27-28, 2026. MeitY reported a quantum bit error rate below 5% and a key rate of 230-260 bits per second, then used those keys on Vedic Kavach. The full account covers the hybrid stack and how the path compares with satellite and free-space QKD results abroad.
EuroHPC opened six Horizon Europe quantum calls on August 13, 2026, with €119 million ($135 million USD) still on offer through November 17. The package funds 1,000-plus-qubit trapped-ion, superconducting, and neutral-atom stacks plus next-generation QKD, Qu-Test labs, and Qu-Pilot lines. Call IDs, gate-time floors, key-rate targets, and the Funding and Tenders path are in the full article.
IonQ used September 8, 2026 Investor Day to launch Superion 256, open 2027 deliveries, and raise 2026 revenue guidance to $450 million to $460 million after the SkyWater close. The same package included an $8.18 million Congruity360 quantum-safe networking agreement and a fully compiled Walking Cat estimate putting secp256k1 at 19,397 physical qubits and 25.7 days per attempt. Error-correction parameters, the 20,000-versus-19,397 qubit accounting, and the standalone-to-raised guidance bridge are in the full article.
Researchers at the University of Padua and ThinkQuantum have demonstrated intermodal quantum key distribution over an 18 km free-space link in northeastern Italy. Adaptive optics at a 410 mm urban telescope coupled the telecom-wavelength signal into single-mode fiber and produced secret keys at about 200 bit/s with room-temperature detectors. Link parameters, detector comparison, and network-design implications are covered here.
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking has opened six new Horizon Europe calls totaling €119 million ($139 million USD) for next-generation quantum platforms, QKD systems, testing infrastructure and experimental pilot lines. Targets include full-stack systems at the 1,000-physical-qubit scale across three modalities and hybrid QKD systems with key rates above 1 Mbps. Technical specifications, supply-chain requirements and commercial implications are detailed in the full announcement.
The Network research group at FAU’s Regional Computing Centre Erlangen is participating in the Infosim-coordinated QDD – Quantum Domain Dynamics project. The consortium has secured €3.26 million in BMFTR funding for a total volume of €3.84 million to develop automated hybrid quantum key distribution and post-quantum cryptography management across network domains through 2029. Intent-based networking exploring large language models forms a core technical component for orchestration.
Fraunhofer ISI has released “Quantum Repeaters – A Technology Roadmap,” prepared with Saarland University within the SQuaD project. The study compares hardware platforms including diamond color centers, trapped atoms and ions, atomic ensembles, rare-earth crystals, and semiconductor quantum dots. No single platform has emerged as dominant. First demonstrations of quantum repeaters capable of lower-loss long-distance transmission are projected before 2035. Near-term applications center on extended-range quantum key distribution, with longer-term potential in distributed quantum computing and sensor networks.
Telefónica and Würth España have completed a pilot that applies quantum computing and artificial intelligence to optimize product packing at a major Spanish logistics center. Working with TECNALIA and QCentroid at Telefónica’s Bilbao quantum technologies center, the team processed more than 6,000 orders. Packaging efficiency improved, shipping boxes reduced, truck transport volume declined, and cardboard use fell. The results illustrate practical hybrid quantum-classical value for high-volume industrial logistics today.
Chinese quantum physicist Pan Jianwei of the University of Science and Technology of China has become the first Chinese scientist awarded the third UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences. The honor, announced 10 July 2026, recognizes his seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation. His team developed the Micius satellite enabling quantum key distribution and teleportation over thousands of kilometers and demonstrated quantum computational advantage. Each laureate receives €219,000 ($250,000 USD), a gold medal and diploma; the ceremony is set for 17 July 2026 in Paris.