Progress in quantum technologies is likely to accelerate over the next decade as large companies and governments spend more heavily on seeking quantum leadership. Technology convergence between AI/machine learning (ML) and quantum computing is accelerating the development of both fields. And a whole new field of quantum ML is emerging. Both the quantum and AI risk landscapes will become supercharged over the next decade, and this may lead to situations in which humans lose control.111 The Global Risks Perception Survey 2025-2026 (GRPS) findings suggest that respondents are sanguine for now: Adverse outcomes of frontier technologies (including quantum) ranks low at #33 and #25 over the next two years and 10 years, respectively (Figure 10). Nonetheless, this risk has the fourth-largest increase, among all 33 risks, in severity score between these two time horizons, clearly indicating that respondents’ concerns are rising over time. All three key areas of quantum technology – computing, communications and security, and sensing – could see rapid change. Quantum computing in particular has the potential to contribute to breakthroughs in many fields.112 It is applicable notably to problems exhibiting combinatorial complexity (exponential growth in the number of possible solutions for a problem as the number of variables increases), with speedups expected where quantum algorithms offer an advantage. Promising areas include optimization (e.g. for financial portfolios, supply chains and energy grids); cryptography and number theory; simulation (e.g. in chemistry and materials science113); and for improving AI/ML, subject to future hardware capabilities. While several quantum computing systems exist today, they still require further refinement, increased noise management and scaling before major opportunities – and risks – materialize. Quantum communications and security involve building communications networks that, by their very nature, unlock new security paradigms. China has invested heavily in this field,114 with the United States, Germany and Switzerland115 also early movers. Quantum sensing involves improving the sensitivity and precision of sensors. It is starting to lead to important enhancements in military and industrial applications. The United States and China are, again, the leading players, as well as Germany.116Quantum leaps 2.6 2 years 10 years4.30 4% 13% 20% 15% 12% 18% 17% 19% 33% 7% 3%1% 16% 21% Short-term (2 years) and long-term (10 years) risk severity score distribution: Adverse outcomes of frontier technologiesFIGURE 47 Source World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2025-2026Intended or unintended negative consequences of advances in frontier technologies on individuals, businesses, ecosystems and/or economies. Includes, but is not limited to: brain-computer interfaces; biotechnology; geo-engineering; and quantum computing. Note Severity was assessed on a 1-7 Likert scale [1 – Low severity, 7 – High severity]. The percentages in the graphs may not add up to 100% because ﬁgures have been rounded up/down.1 Low High 2 3 4 5 6 7Severity –Future quantum computing attacks on classical mathematics-based cryptography could undermine all digital trust infrastructures and lead to mass decryption. –New extremes in concentration of business and economic power could exacerbate digital divides within societies and between countries. –Geopolitics could move closer to winner-take-all scenarios, with supremacy in areas of quantum providing huge strategic and tactical advantages in conflicts. Global Risks Report 2026 53