Emmanuel Macron will unveil France's strategy on Thursday to develop its own quantum computer, the supercomputer of the future which is the subject of a global shallot race.

In total, the plan provides for 1.8 billion euros in funding over five years to maintain technological sovereignty over this crucial project.

France is going to release the checkbook to develop the computer of the future.

Traveling on the Saclay campus, in the Paris region, Thursday, Emmanuel Macron will unveil France's "quantum strategy".

In one of the largest research centers in the country, the President of the Republic will detail a five-year plan to develop the quantum computer, a new kind of supercomputer that is making researchers around the world salivate.

"France is not late but if we do not take the train now, we will be," said the Elysee, who wants to do everything to keep control of a "strategic" technology.

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A computer to enter the future

The Élysée is targeting the world number 3 in quantum research, behind the United States and China, which are already spending a fortune in this area.

To achieve this, a five-year strategic plan is on the table, with a total envelope of 1.8 billion euros.

The State will contribute one billion euros, or 200 million per year until 2025, against 60 million today.

Half of the credits will go through the Investments for the Future Program, the other through research organizations such as CNRS, CEA and Inria.

Objective: to accelerate the design of the quantum computer, presented by Cédric O, the Secretary of State for Digital, as the "new technological frontier".

This supercomputer uses the rules of quantum physics to perform computing operations in parallel.

As a result, it goes much faster than a conventional computer and can perform large-scale simulations with unprecedented precision.

There are many applications: molecular biology, nuclear fission, financial analysis, weather forecasts, telecommunications, code encryption and decryption, and drug design. 

Alliance between the State, research and companies

To perform these calculations, the quantum computer does not use the bits of traditional computers, represented by 0s and 1s, but qubits, quantum bits.

Except that all of this is still theoretical.

Indeed, materializing a quantum computer is extremely complex.

Qubits only work in a cryogenic environment, where the temperature should be close to absolute zero, or -273 degrees Celsius.

Some projects are advanced, especially at Google which in 2019 has familiarized with "quantum supremacy", but for the moment these are quantum simulators and not computers strictly speaking. 

© Pierre Metivier

To make this project a reality, the Élysée is counting on an alliance between the State, research and businesses.

Manufacturers, including Atos, Thales and Air Liquide, and investment funds, will finance the advances to the tune of 550 million euros.

The European Union adds 200 million.

In total, France is therefore mobilizing 1.8 billion euros over five years, a sum that meets expectations.

"The potential is considerable. Quantum computers will upset the way of doing simulations in the next five to ten years," said one at the Élysée.

Millions to attract the best scientists

The strategic plan, which should enable France to achieve "technological sovereignty" in quantum research, will go through several stages.

First, 350 million euros will allow progress on quantum simulators and tame quantum calculations.

Then, 430 million more will aim to develop a "perfect computer"

made in

France.

"We started research in this field in the 1980s. Today, we have cutting-edge laboratories and several Nobel Prize winners in quantum physics," says the Élysée.

Talent is a key part of the plan.

“French research careers suffer from a lack of attractiveness,” we admit at the Élysée.

While the GAFA are also in the race, we must convince the best scientists to come and work in France on the quantum computer.

Part of the funds will be allocated to the financing of around 100 thesis grants, around 50 post-doctoral contracts and around 10 very high-level researchers from France and abroad.