Insider Brief
- The UK’s 2025 Compute Roadmap outlines a £2 billion plan to expand national computing infrastructure, with quantum systems integrated as a strategic long-term priority.
- Quantum computing is explicitly included as a high-potential technology, with dedicated funding, testbeds, and procurement pathways to transition it from research into scalable national deployments by 2030.
- The roadmap positions quantum as a key element of UK digital sovereignty, embedding it in sovereign AI policy, supercomputing centers, and hybrid infrastructure alongside traditional and AI-driven systems.
The UK government has moved quantum computing closer to the center of its national infrastructure strategy, committing to a multi-year plan that integrates quantum systems into a broader effort to overhaul the country’s compute capabilities.
In the 2025 UK Compute Roadmap, published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, officials outlined a £2 billion investment to build a resilient, sovereign, and future-ready computing ecosystem. While most of the funding will initially support traditional and AI-driven supercomputing, the report sets clear intentions to integrate quantum technologies into national infrastructure by the end of the decade.
The total effort, though, speaks to the scale of the challenge and the stakes of missing the wave of advanced computational technologies.
The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, writes: “Nations are beginning to view compute as a strategic enabler and are moving quickly. The USA, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates have each committed to multibillion dollar investments in public compute capacity. Alongside this, hyperscalers have committed over $300 billion in 2025 alone to build compute infrastructure. This scale of investment is reshaping global supply chains – from semiconductors and advanced materials to critical minerals, energy infrastructure and data centre technologies – and bringing about a new class of global consortia: alliances between hyperscalers and AI labs, partnering with chipmakers and energy firms, and funded by the largest private and sovereign capital institutions. Entire sectors are being reconfigured to serve the world’s growing need for compute as global demand surges.”
Quantum Positioned as a Strategic Bet
Though not yet mainstream, quantum computing is explicitly included in the roadmap as part of a new class of emerging technologies expected to redefine national compute architecture. The government states that some of the AIRR (AI Research Resource) capacity will be reserved for “high-potential technologies – including novel chips, architectures, and software stacks,” with quantum computing named as a primary example.
This marks one of the clearest indications to date that the UK considers quantum not just as a research curiosity but as a computing paradigm that will contribute to national competitiveness. According to the roadmap, quantum systems are expected to become part of a blended infrastructure strategy that combines supercomputing, cloud-based resources, and novel computing paradigms.
The move signals a shift away from siloed experimentation and toward integration of quantum within standard scientific workflows. The UK plans to incubate quantum technologies in National Supercomputing Centres and later scale deployments via AI Growth Zones — high-density infrastructure hubs designed to meet the power and space needs of next-generation compute.
A Bridge from Research to Real-World Impact
One of the roadmap’s most concrete proposals is the creation of a “Compute Bridge” — a mechanism for pulling UK-developed compute technologies, including quantum, from research into deployment.
Under this model, novel technologies will be validated within testbeds at National Supercomputing Centres, including Edinburgh’s new £750 million national supercomputer facility. If successful, these solutions may be scaled into commercial environments within AI Growth Zones, which are expected to reach 6 gigawatts of AI-capable compute by 2030.
By reserving portions of public infrastructure for technologies not yet ready for mass-market use, the roadmap provides a rare on-ramp for quantum startups and UK-based researchers to enter an ecosystem otherwise dominated by mature silicon hardware and hyperscale cloud providers.
Sovereignty Over the Stack
Quantum computing also features prominently in the roadmap’s final section: creating sovereign, secure, and sustainable compute capabilities.
The UK defines sovereignty not as being able to act in complete isolation, but as the ability to act independently where it matters most. That includes directing compute toward national missions, protecting sensitive datasets, and avoiding over-reliance on foreign infrastructure. Quantum is positioned as one of the few fields in which the UK has both existing strengths — in photonics, software optimization, and chip design — and the opportunity to shape global standards.
The roadmap identifies ARM, Cambridge Quantum (now part of Quantinuum), and emerging hardware startups as key assets. The government intends to back these and similar companies through dedicated funding vehicles like the Sovereign AI Unit and the National Quantum Technologies Programme.
The Sovereign AI Unit, backed by £500 million, will treat quantum as a core focus. It will provide not only funding but dedicated compute allocations within AIRR to accelerate quantum development. The unit is tasked with supporting projects that align with national priorities and could give the UK strategic leverage, criteria that quantum technologies are well positioned to meet.
Testbeds, Not Just Talk
Unlike many national strategies that mention quantum in passing, the UK roadmap is unusually detailed about how quantum will be integrated into infrastructure.
National Supercomputing Centres will be funded and structured to support quantum R&D explicitly. These hubs are designed not just as hardware warehouses, but as places to build software, curate datasets, and train talent to use advanced systems, all key to scaling quantum from proof-of-concept to national utility.
The roadmap also emphasizes the creation of an open-source “Living Benchmarks Library,” a repository of real-world compute workloads that will guide procurement. This may open the door for quantum architectures to be evaluated not against abstract metrics, but on how well they handle real scientific problems, a crucial advantage for quantum technologies, which often excel at specialized tasks like optimization and simulation.
Quantum-Ready By 2030
The government expects to expand AIRR’s compute capacity twenty-fold by 2030, from 21 AI exaFLOPs today to 420. Though this growth will be driven by traditional GPU-based infrastructure, the roadmap makes clear that quantum computing will be part of the national portfolio by that date.
By integrating quantum into its supercomputing and cloud infrastructure from the start, rather than bolting it on later, the UK aims to position itself as a global leader in hybrid compute environments. These environments — where quantum processors work alongside classical systems — are expected to be the first commercially viable model for quantum applications in areas like drug discovery, climate modeling, and materials science.
The strategy also anticipates that quantum’s role will evolve over time, with initial deployments in niche scientific domains expanding into broader AI integration. The roadmap explicitly identifies “AI-hybrid systems” as part of its 2030+ vision, indicating a future where quantum and AI are increasingly interdependent.
The Global Context
The UK’s investment, while significant, must be viewed against the backdrop of rising international competition. The roadmap notes that hyperscale infrastructure companies committed over $300 billion globally in 2025 alone, with countries like the United States and UAE racing to build 1-gigawatt-scale AI campuses.
Unlike some competitors, the UK does not have the landmass or energy infrastructure to replicate these projects wholesale. Instead, it is betting on efficiency, specialization, and public-private coordination to carve out its niche. Quantum computing — which requires relatively little space but demands extreme precision — fits well into that strategy.
By leveraging its research base and integrating quantum into government-backed infrastructure from the start, the UK may avoid the fragmentation that has plagued other national efforts.
Risks and Unknowns
Still, significant risks remain. The roadmap depends on tight coordination between government, universities, and industry — an alignment that often proves difficult in practice. It also hinges on the success of emerging quantum startups and early-stage technologies that may not scale as expected.
Another open question is whether quantum computing can reach practical utility in time to justify its infrastructure allocation. While many experts believe quantum systems will outperform classical machines for specific tasks, timelines for commercial readiness remain uncertain.
Moreover, there are challenges in workforce development. The roadmap calls for upskilling public sector and industry users but offers few details on how quantum talent will be developed at scale, beyond the existing research pipeline.
A Signal to the Market
Regardless of these uncertainties, the inclusion of quantum throughout the roadmap sends a strong market signal: the UK government is not waiting for the technology to mature before building the scaffolding to support it.
By anchoring quantum within a national infrastructure plan, alongside traditional supercomputers and AI data centers, the UK aims to de-risk private sector investment, accelerate R&D and ensure that when the technology is ready, the country will be ready too.
“This plan will put compute to work for Britain – enabling the science, services, and industries that will define our future and secure the UK’s leadership in the age of AI,” writes Kyle.