# NSF’s $20M Quantum Push: What It Could Mean for Future Data Centers > Source: > Published: 2026-07-09 08:50:00+00:00 # NSF’s $20M Quantum Push: What It Could Mean for Future Data Centers The NSF has awarded $20 million to five new teams building a national quantum infrastructure spanning networking, sensing, and fault-tolerant computing. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected five additional teams to help build what it hopes will become a national quantum research infrastructure, awarding $20 million to projects spanning fault-tolerant computing, quantum networking and next-generation sensing technologies. Each of the projects has potential to help reshape the data center industry by slashing the massive power footprints and network bottlenecks currently capping AI growth. The awards expand NSF’s National Quantum Virtual Laboratory program launched to create a shared, federated environment for developing quantum technologies rather than relying on isolated research efforts. Each of the five teams will receive $4 million over two years to refine their development plans and prepare for the implementation phase. These teams join four selected last year, bringing the total to nine design projects focused on quantum sensing, networking, and computing. The effort also supports the White House’s recent Executive Order on ‘Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation,’ which calls for strengthening US leadership in quantum technologies by accelerating research, expanding public-private collaboration and moving promising discoveries toward practical deployment. For data center operators, many of the technologies remain years from commercialization. But the program reflects a growing recognition that future AI infrastructure may eventually incorporate quantum networking, specialized quantum processors and quantum sensors alongside conventional compute resources. ## A Quantum Leap for Data Centers? As data centers face soaring power constraints and unprecedented compute requirements, quantum technologies have been marketed as transformative solutions, offering the promise of revolutionizing the industry. [Research from AWS](/infrastructure/quantum-progress-runs-through-the-data-center-aws-shows-why) suggests high-performance data center infrastructure could accelerate quantum computing by enabling large-scale hardware-calibrated simulations, while JPMorgan, OQC, and AMD are planning [quantum AI data centers for finance](/infrastructure/oqc-jpmorganchase-and-amd-launch-london-quantum-ai-research-platform). Quantum networks, for instance, could enable faster and more efficient data transfer, while quantum sensors and computing advancements promise breakthroughs in energy efficiency, system optimization, and real-time processing capabilities. However, these technologies remain largely in the experimental stage, with practical applications still emerging – even as quantum computing edges closer to practical reality, industry [experts remain divided](/next-gen-data-centers/quantum-leap-opinion-split-over-quantum-computing-s-medium-term-impact) on its timeline and potential impact on data center infrastructure. Rather than treating those technologies as separate disciplines, NSF wants them developed as an integrated ecosystem. “The National Quantum Virtual Laboratory draws upon the national pool of talent to build a federated suite of testing platforms that will in turn enable prototypes for future quantum sensing, networking and computing capabilities,” Mike England with NSF’s Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, told Data Center Knowledge. “No individual lab or university can accomplish this work on its own.” That federated model addresses one of the biggest challenges facing quantum research today. Universities, national laboratories and private companies have made significant advances independently, but integrating those advances into functional systems remains difficult. According to England, the nine projects now entering the design phase represent many of the foundational technologies needed to move beyond standalone breakthroughs. Rather than pursuing individual demonstrations, the teams are developing platforms that can ultimately be combined using systems engineering and co-design approaches. Equally important, NSF intends to involve researchers, practitioners and industry users throughout the process to help ensure the technologies address real-world problems and lower barriers to future commercial applications. ## What the Research Could Mean for Data Centers Collectively, [the projects](https://www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-selects-five-additional-teams-national-quantum-virtual) involve researchers across 20 US states, along with federal partners including NASA, NIST, and multiple Department of Energy national laboratories. High-profile industry participants include Nvidia, Honeywell, IonQ, and Quantinuum. While commercial deployment is years away, several of the projects have major downstream implications for how data centers route data and secure their infrastructure. For instance, ASPEN-Net – a project led by the University of Oregon across testbeds in three states – lays the early groundwork for next-generation data center interconnects. Instead of relying on traditional networking limits, ASPEN-Net is developing a scalable quantum networking platform designed to route data at high speeds over long distances entirely via light, using phase-stable optical memories to eliminate the latency and heat of optical-to-electronic conversion. “Quantum computers promise to perform calculations beyond the capacity of any classical device, enabling advances in diverse fields such as medicine, chemistry, manufacturing and security,” the researchers [wrote](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2547582). Similarly, the Accelerating Fault-Tolerant Quantum Logic (FTL) project, led by UCLA, tackles the massive physical footprint and overhead constraints of quantum hardware. According to the researchers, today’s experimental quantum systems require an [enormous number of physical qubits](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2547483) to suppress processing errors. The FTL team is designing a “60 logical-qubit quantum computer” that optimizes hardware layouts and reduces error rates. For data center operators, optimizing these systems to achieve fault tolerance with a minimum resource cost could become a crucial step toward moving quantum out of specialized physics labs and into standard, scalable enterprise server environments. The remaining three design teams awarded funding under the initiative round out this ecosystem by focusing on specialized hardware component deployment: Erasure Qubits and Dynamic Circuits for Quantum Advantage: This team will develop new error detection and correction techniques using superconducting hardware to stabilize processing. Distributed-Entanglement Quantum Sensing of Chemical Properties: The team’s focus is on creating ultra-precise quantum sensors, including protein-based qubits, capable of operating inside solid materials and living cells. Quantum Photonic Integration and Deployment: This project focuses on building portable, chip-scale quantum sensors engineered to reliably operate outside of tightly controlled, pristine laboratory environments. ## Integrating Quantum Breakthroughs While each project targets a different technical challenge, England said they should not be viewed as competing priorities. “Each of these areas is critical to deliver on the promise of quantum technologies and accelerate progress towards the quantum future,” he said. The objective is to leverage existing state-of-the-art capabilities to build functional systems that demonstrate quantum advantage across sensing, communications and computation. That emphasis on integration also extends to how the program itself is organized. Rather than creating another centralized research facility, NSF envisions what England describes as a virtual laboratory that coordinates expertise distributed across the country. The federated infrastructure will allow participating institutions to share resources and communicate as a single coordinated unit while translating fundamental research into functional quantum devices and systems. Success, however, will ultimately be measured by more than scientific publications. Each project must progress through pilot, design and implementation phases while defining measurable quantum advantage goals and a clear pathway toward achieving them. NSF will track technical progress, schedules and budgets throughout the process, while ensuring the individual platforms are designed to integrate into a unified national quantum infrastructure. If successful, the result would be more than nine independent research projects and serve as a coordinated foundation for developing the quantum technologies that could eventually complement tomorrow’s AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.