The U.S. must maintain “a strategic technical advantage” in the family of disruptive technologies, states an executive order President Donald Trump issued Monday. He ordered the Department of Energy (DoE) to work with industry to develop a quantum computer that’s useful for scientific discovery. He also instructed federal departments and agencies to switch to cryptography that’s resistant to such machines by 2031. (The Logic)

Talking point: Washington’s push could help accelerate the timeline for quantum computers, which promise faster code cracking and processing of consequential economic problems like new material discovery. White House officials reportedly said they anticipate the DoE’s machine could be built and running by 2028; that’s fully five years faster than the deadline the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has given firms to show they can build quantum computers that solve real-world industrial problems. The share prices of quantum companies backed by the U.S. government, like Infleqtion (12.32 per cent), Quantinuum (13.46 per cent) and Canada-founded D-Wave (2.23 per cent), rose on Tuesday, while Toronto-based Xanadu closed down 2.47 per cent.