White House Urges Companies To Team With Feds To Prevent Chinese Tech Theft

The Biden White House wants companies working on quantum technology breakthroughs to cooperate with federal security agencies to prevent China from stealing American innovation.

Charles Tahan, director of the National Quantum Coordination Office, told lawmakers that the administration advises companies involved in research and development of new technologies to involve the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security before problems arise.

According to the federal government's National Quantum Initiative website, advances based on quantum technology have become the basis of technological products, including global positioning system navigation devices and magnetic resonance imaging for medical use.

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To stay ahead of new technologies, Mr. Tahan told the House Science Committee that the United States must act quickly to confront China and cannot wait for federal agencies to investigate foreign operations.

"We need to be very proactive with new technology and educate people, help with cyber security and eventually have physical security regulations," Tahan said at the hearing. But here is the launch game and we are working on it.

According to Celia Merzbacher, executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, efforts are already underway to bring the quantum sector closer to federal law enforcement.

The federally funded consortium has about 170 member companies and aims to advance the U.S. quantum industry, Ms. Merzbacher said.

"I have a good relationship with law enforcement in the United States to arm QED-C members and they are talking to these companies, especially the smaller companies," Mertzbacher told lawmakers. An export controller does not work full time, so they have to earn a fortune.

As the federal government works to protect advances in quantum technology, lawmakers worry that China is chasing American innovation.

House Science Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, D-Oklahoma, said China and Russia are investing in working quantum systems, with China spending more than $15 billion on quantum research and development.

"We cannot allow adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party to use quantum technology against us," Lucas told the court. "Using a quantum computer, a PDA could crack current encryption codes in an instant and breach our digital defenses, exposing American businesses and citizens to serious privacy breaches."

The federal government relies on representatives from federal agencies leading quantum science and technology programs to help identify the safety and economic challenges of quantum technology.

Mr. Tahan said the federal government relies on its representatives to develop best practices at the US Research Protection Commission. The committee includes representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security, as well as representatives from the intelligence community and the White House.

From his position in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Mr. Tahan will help oversee the administration's quantum science and technology initiatives.

"There is no perfect way to manage risk," Tahan said. "And above all, our goal is to keep moving forward."

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