AI Is a National Security Problem, But Q Day Is Coming.

The National Interest ^ | 08/21/2026 | Brandt Pasco

[Another Kansan]

AI-powered cyberattacks are already here. Quantum computing could soon break the encryption underpinning the modern economy.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; China; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: crypto; quantum; security; trump

[Another Kansan]

The President's recent executive order on post-quantum cryptography addresses the most pressing, and least understood, national security crisis of our time. This is what you need to know about it.

[oldtech]

Wish I understood that better, but have long felt that perhaps AI was one of the bigger mistakes having been made in recent times.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

perhaps AI was one of the bigger mistakes having been made in recent times

AI and quantum computing are two totally different and unrelated technologies.

Q-Day may never arrive because Qubits, by the very nature of quantum mechanics, will never compute with 100 percent accuracy. It would require infinite energy to accomplish this.

Modern encryption, in order to break it, requires a computer to sort through a range of numbers with 80-120 digits (there are less atoms in the visible universe), so accuracy is rather important.

[dangus]

I’ve heard if the issues with Q-bits being imprecise. But my understanding is that the advantage of Quantum computing is that it creates an incredibly less amount of heat than electronic computing.

[ClearCase_guy]

So, you’re saying that it’s imprecise, but it’s still cool?

[delta7]

“AI will be able to defeat most encryption, across all domains, nearly instantaneously...”

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Every form of “ money” man has created has eventually been corrupted and compromised. Many already know digital forms of “ money” goes worthless when power is lost....and now it is becoming obvious no electronic “ money” will be safe from computer hacking and theft. The theft is instantaneous and untraceable. Already proven.

Which brings into question the difference between “ money” and Wealth. Best to learn the difference before being wiped out. If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

But my understanding is that the advantage of Quantum computing is that it creates an incredibly less amount of heat than electronic computing.

No, you need an incredible amount of energy (much more than conventional computing) to cool the Qubits to near absolute zero temperatures, so that they produce results that are 99.99% accurate. This is why quantum computing will always be executed at a centralized location and there will never be quantum personal computers.

[CandyFloss]

The theft is instantaneous and untraceable. Already proven.

If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it.

Digital theft can be fast, sure. But a more fitting and thoroughly proven example of theft is Martin Armstrong:

Taking hundreds of millions under the cover of a trading model, then converting the proceeds into physical gold and rare coins he could hold and own, while fighting for years to keep them hidden from the people he took them from.

That’s not theoretical. That’s documented.

You may know the guy. The guy who lectures others about real wealth versus paper has already demonstrated to us exactly how the conversion works.

[Another Kansan]

You are right that AI and quantum computing are different technologies, but it is the layering of them that is interesting. AI attacks are unsettling, but when overlaid on near infinite computational power it becomes quite worrisome. Google already showed the potential of quantum back in 2024. https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/research/google-willow-quantum-chip/

[adorno]

The Chinese have absolutely no issues with AI.

They do, however, hope that America continues to see AI as a huge threat.

[LouAvul]

I am confident of two things. First, that we have teams of geeks in competition w/other teams of geeks to a) construct safeguards for the OP's scenario. Then the opposing teams work to hack through said safeguards.

Second, that this is being done in secret. We don't want the chinks or ragheads to know our strengths or weaknesses.

Let your enemies underestimate your strengths and overestimate your weaknesses. (Don Vito Corleone, circa 1973)

[qwerty1234]

>>They do, however, hope that America continues to see AI as a huge threat.

Absolutely, and most of the leftists are being paid directly or indirectly by China for their faux outrage - China would like nothing more than to slow down or halt the USA’s advance in AI, so they control it all....make no mistake about it, that is where the vast majority of anti-data center sentiment is coming from.

AI is NOT going away, AI data centers are NOT going away technology is NOT going away - and letting China control it all will ultimately lead them to controlling the entire planet.

[delta7]

AI eventually will be used for nefarious purposes. It is a stain on humanity.

[ChessExpert]

This is Q anon?

[qwerty1234]

>>AI eventually will be used for nefarious purposes. It is a stain on humanity.

Of course it will...so are guns, cars, knives, fists and almost everything else imaginable.

I don’t want things banned because some people might do bad things with them.

[Another Kansan]

Kind of funny, but no. Q-Day is the uncertain date where quantum computing comes out of the lab and is available to nation states to launch AI driven attacks with brutally efficient speed. It is possible that the technology does not prove out, but expert opinion keeps moving the date up. The President’s recent EO requires the government be ready in 2030. That is not a lot of time to fundamentally replace the cryptography the underpins the entire global economy.