What exactly is, "Blind" Quantum Computing, what are it's benefits, who will use the technology and who is leading the charge?

 Blind Quantum Computing is a cryptographic protocol that allows a quantum computation to be performed on a remote quantum server while keeping the data and the computation itself hidden from the server. This concept is particularly significant for ensuring privacy in quantum computing, where sensitive data might be processed.

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IONQ's Development of Blind Quantum Computing

1. Research and Development: IONQ has been actively involved in the broader quantum computing research community, where the concept of Blind Quantum Computing is a significant topic. While specific projects might not be public, IONQ's technology, which focuses on trapped-ion quantum computers, is well-suited for implementing such protocols because of its high fidelity and precision.

2. Security and Privacy Applications: The primary application of Blind Quantum Computing is in secure quantum cloud computing, where users can perform computations on a remote quantum server without revealing their data. This is crucial for industries like finance, healthcare, and government, where data privacy is paramount.

3. Partnerships: IONQ has partnerships with companies like Microsoft and Amazon, which offer cloud-based quantum computing services. These platforms could potentially implement Blind Quantum Computing protocols, allowing users to perform secure quantum computations via the cloud.

Use Cases for Blind Quantum Computing

1. Secure Data Processing: Blind Quantum Computing can be used to process sensitive data securely on quantum computers. For example, financial institutions could run complex risk assessments or fraud detection algorithms without exposing their proprietary data.

2. Government and Military Applications: Governments could use Blind Quantum Computing for secure communication and data analysis, ensuring that even the quantum service providers cannot access the sensitive information being processed.

3. Healthcare: In healthcare, this technology could enable secure analysis of medical data, allowing researchers and providers to benefit from quantum computing's power without compromising patient privacy.

U.S. Government and Private Investment

1. Government Investment: The U.S. Government has shown interest in quantum computing through initiatives like the National Quantum Initiative Act, which fosters collaboration between government agencies, academia, and industry. While specific investments in Blind Quantum Computing might not be public, the government's broader interest in quantum technologies likely includes support for secure quantum computing protocols.

2. Private Industry: Companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Google, which are also involved in quantum computing, are exploring quantum cryptography and secure quantum computing protocols. IONQ's partnerships with these tech giants suggest that private industry is also investing in the development and implementation of Blind Quantum Computing.

In summary, IONQ is contributing to the field of Blind Quantum Computing through its advanced quantum technology and partnerships with major cloud providers. This technology is poised to play a critical role in secure quantum cloud computing, with applications across various industries, including government and private sectors. The U.S. Government and private industry are both likely investing in this area as part of their broader commitment to advancing quantum computing.

IONQ is building a new, Quantum computing factory in Seattle!

IONQ's Blind Quantum Computing and its Impact on Cybersecurity:

Cybersecurity Advancements:

1. Data Privacy: Blind Quantum Computing (BQC) offers a significant advancement in data privacy by allowing computations to be performed on a quantum computer without revealing the data or the nature of the computation to the quantum service provider. This is a game-changer in cybersecurity, especially for industries dealing with highly sensitive information such as financial services, healthcare, and government operations.

2. Secure Cloud Computing: BQC can enable secure quantum cloud computing, where users can leverage the computational power of remote quantum computers without compromising their data security. This mitigates the risks associated with trusting third-party quantum cloud providers, making quantum cloud services more viable for sensitive applications.

3. Quantum-Resistant Protocols: As quantum computers pose a threat to current cryptographic protocols, BQC adds a layer of security by ensuring that even quantum computations can be done securely. This aligns with the broader need to develop quantum-resistant cryptographic protocols, which is crucial as we approach the era of practical quantum computing.

Other Technological Advances Driven by Blind Quantum Computing:

1. Quantum Cryptography:

   • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): BQC complements existing quantum cryptographic methods such as QKD by providing a secure way to perform computations once a secure communication channel is established. This strengthens the overall cybersecurity framework in a quantum-enabled world.
   • Post-Quantum Cryptography: While BQC focuses on secure computation, it drives interest and research in post-quantum cryptography, which aims to develop classical cryptographic methods that are secure against quantum attacks.

2. Confidential Computing:

   • Enhanced Confidential Computing: BQC contributes to the field of confidential computing, where the goal is to protect data during processing. By ensuring that quantum computations remain private, BQC extends the concept of confidential computing into the quantum realm, making it possible to securely process sensitive data on quantum hardware.

3. Quantum Cloud Services:

   • Wider Adoption of Quantum Computing: The ability to perform secure computations on quantum clouds without revealing data could lead to wider adoption of quantum computing across industries that were previously hesitant due to security concerns. This could accelerate developments in quantum cloud infrastructure and services.
   • Federated Learning: BQC can facilitate secure federated learning in quantum computing, where multiple parties can collaboratively train models without exposing their data. This is particularly relevant in fields like healthcare and finance, where data privacy is critical.

4. Secure Multi-Party Computation (SMPC):

   • Quantum SMPC: BQC could advance secure multi-party computation protocols by allowing quantum computations to be securely distributed among multiple parties without revealing individual inputs. This is particularly useful for collaborative computations involving sensitive data across different organizations.

5. Quantum Artificial Intelligence (QAI):

   • Privacy-Preserving QAI: BQC can enhance quantum AI by ensuring that data used in training quantum AI models remains private. This is essential in scenarios where AI models need to be trained on sensitive data, such as in personalized medicine or financial forecasting.

Summary:

IONQ's development of Blind Quantum Computing represents a significant advancement in cybersecurity by ensuring that quantum computations can be performed securely and privately. This technology not only enhances data privacy but also drives forward other fields such as quantum cryptography, confidential computing, quantum cloud services, secure multi-party computation, and quantum artificial intelligence. As quantum computing becomes more integrated into critical applications, BQC will play a crucial role in ensuring the security and privacy of data in this new computing paradigm.

(Editors note: We are very bullish on IONQ stock and continue to accumulate)

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China - not playing by international rules could ignite trade war with the west.

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China's home-grown innovation drive stirs unease

Sept 27-2010 by Thomson Reuters

By Alan Wheatley, China Economics Editor
BEIJING, Sept 27 (Reuters) - In the 1860s, Chinese labourers laid track over the treacherous terrain of California's high Sierras to help complete America's first transcontinental railroad.
Fast forward, and California wants Chinese technology and capital to construct the country's first high-speed rail system.

"We look to China to build our high-speed rail, to be part of the bidding process that we are going to go through," the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said on a visit to Shanghai this month.
Acceleration of the industrial upgrading that puts China on par with the likes of France and Japan to compete for the Californian contract will be a centrepiece of the country's five-year plan for 2011-2016 now being finalised.

As well as introducing more automation into traditional industries, the government has identified a cluster of strategic sectors that it wants to develop, including nanotechnology and new materials.
China already has in place five of a planned array of 35 satellites that will provide a navigation alternative to the U.S. Global Positioning System by 2020.

By the same date, China expects to be converting more coal into oil, gas and chemicals than any other country, according to industry officials quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.
Embracing cutting-edge technologies will help further raise living standards in a country where 150 million people still live below the poverty line.

But there is growing criticism in the West that China owes its rapid ascent to a mercantilist strategy of coercing foreign firms to transfer technology; favouring local companies in its domestic market; and now launching a new breed of national champions overseas to undercut foreign rivals who gave them a technological leg-up to start with.

Feelings are running so high that the heads of German industrial giants Siemens and BASF publicly complained about an uneven playing field in China in the presence of Premier Wen Jiabao back in July.

General Electric <GE.N> Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt made similar comments in private that found their way into the press.

"I don't condemn China. It's very smart policy to look out for yourself. However, China has joined the world's rules-based system, and these things are not acceptable in this system," said James McGregor, a senior counselor in Beijing for APCO Worldwide, a public affairs and communications firm.

SIGNS OF SHIFTING POWER
China is no different from many countries that set product standards tilted to their own firms or promote home-grown innovation. But Beijing is striking a combative stance at a time when the West, especially the United States, has a sinking feeling that power is leaking away to Asia in the wake of the global financial crisis. Unemployment is high, confidence is low.

"All we're asking China to do is play by the rules. Get your thumb off the scales. Let us go in and compete equally," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said last week. While Congress is preoccupied with America's big bilateral trade deficit with China, which it blames on the yuan's exchange rate, many Western investors are more exercised by the difficulty of doing business in China. Rules drafted last November that in effect barred Western firms -- even those with long-established operations in China -- from competing for government contracts badly undermined goodwill in sections of the international business community.

Beijing has since withdrawn the offending regulations, and Wen, the premier, has repeatedly reassured foreign firms that they will be treated equally. But the damage has been done. "I talk to a lot of foreign technology executives and they may come to Beijing smiling, but behind closed doors they are rethinking their China plans. This has woken them up," said McGregor, author of a critical study of the array of industrial policies underpinning China's drive for 'indigenous innovation'.

BRITTLE ATMOSPHERE
Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, an investment consultancy, said China was displaying "high IQ, low EQ" on the issue. The natural rise of domestic competitors was psychologically threatening to foreign companies that have prospered in China.But he said Beijing needed to acknowledge that Western complaints were genuine in many cases; protectionism was a reality in sectors from wind turbines to smart cards.
"We're just not seeing many people queuing up to enter into the market given the perceived barriers," Clark said.

The danger for the world economy is that attitudes are hardening even though China is just setting out on its high-tech odyssey. Without mutual trust, the potential for friction is vast as Chinese firms make inroads into high-end Western markets.China, for instance, exported medical equipment worth $6.6 billion in the first half of 2010, up 27 percent from a year earlier.A recent study by Deutsche Bank said China's technical competence in the equipment manufacturing sector was now at a "golden stage" that would enable it to grab export market share from Japan, South Korea and Germany.

China was likely to undergo an upgrading of its export industries in the next decade similar to that seen in Japan 30-40 years ago -- but on a scale three times larger, the bank said. "The huge domestic market and localisation policy mean that China is best placed to enjoy economies of scale, which will likely offer growing cost advantages to domestic producers against global competitors," Deutsche said. In short, the tinder is dry and nationalist winds in both the United States and China risk fanning any fires that break out.

The need to strike a new balance is urgent, McGregor said. "At the end of the day China has to find a way to build its own innovation system to create its own strong companies. But it's going to have to play by global rules, otherwise we're going to have trade wars," he said. (Editing by Mathew Veedon)

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• Analysis: China's home-grown innovation drive stirs unease (reuters.com)
• Inside Asia: If Beijing Fails to Play by the Rules (nytimes.com)