Author: Tristan Greene / Source: The Next Web
Research currently conducted by US-based companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Rigetti is widely considered at the forefront of quantum computer technology. It’s no stretch to say the US is the global leader in the field. But, if President Donald Trump and the GOP continue to have their way, that’s almost certain to change.
A recent study indicates international student enrollments for prominent physics programs at US universities has fallen by an average of 12 percent in the past year. This, on top of news that many internationally recognized experts in science have avoided US technology contracts due to the volatile Visa situation surrounding Trump‘s travel bans.
The result: US AI programs are in danger of falling behind China’s. And a global shortage of quantum computing experts means the nation competes with the entire world for less than 25,000 people who can be considered experts.
In an article written for the New York Times, Cade Metz claims that even that low number doesn’t tell the whole story:
The labor pool in quantum computing is even smaller. By some accounts, fewer than a thousand people in the world can claim to be doing leading research in the field.
This is a competition the US appears to be trying to lose. It’s doing so by providing a hostile environment for immigrants,…
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