‘Project Nexus’ plan to make Israel quantum computing global power launched

The Prime Minister’s Office, together with Israel’s National AI Directorate, published tenders last month to build Project Nexus, which it describes as a “locally produced quantum computer”.

The project is part of the wider National AI Programme, which aims to invest jointly in the intertwined technologies of AI and quantum computing.

At the launch of the programme, Prime Minister Netanyahu said a quantum computer would be part of the infrastructure Israel needed to become a global technology power.

Erez Eskel, director of the National AI Directorate, added: “The steps we are launching now are a central phase in securing our sovereign infrastructure while continuing to focus our efforts on the State of Israel’s comparative advantages for long-term global leadership.”

Quantum computers harness the counter-intuitive laws of quantum physics - the realm of science shaped by Albert Einstein - to analyse billions of possibilities simultaneously rather than one after another.

That means they could theoretically do anything from cracking protective encryption on bank accounts, to designing new drugs and materials in months rather than years.

Israel is already a significant player globally in quantum. The Israeli Quantum Computing Center, which opened at Tel Aviv University in June 2024, runs multiple quantum processors using imported components and hardware developed outside Israel.