Forget the AI Armageddon—quantum computing is the real threat to digital security

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The quantum clock is ticking faster than we think.

Artificial intelligence dominates headlines as the technology most likely to reshape society—and potentially destabilize it. But while policymakers and security teams debate AI ethics, a potentially more devastating force is advancing in relative silence: quantum computing.

Google's Willow chip, unveiled in late 2024, completed a benchmark calculation in under five minutes that would take the world's fastest supercomputer ten septillion years. The quantum era is no longer a decade away—it's arriving in stages, right now.

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The concern isn’t hypothetical. The accelerating convergence ...