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Quantum computing is starting to pull rubidium out of obscurity. The metal is produced in tiny amounts, yet new hardware plans could make it far more valuable to technology companies, governments, and defense contractors.
Supply remains narrow because rubidium is rarely mined alone and usually comes from mineral processing streams. Market Research Future estimates global use at 7.44 tons in 2025. It expects demand to reach 7.79 tons in 2026 and 11.96 tons by 2035, equal to yearly growth of 4.87%.
Rubidium already serves several high-end markets, including digital systems, military equipment, and medical testing. The next source of demand is neutral-atom Quantum computing.
Companies like QuEra Computing, Pasqal, and Atom Computing trap and cool rubidium-87 atoms with lasers, then use those atoms as qubits.
The United States has committed $1.2 billion through 2028 under the National Quantum Initiative Act, while the European Union has set aside €1 billion over ten years through its Quantum Flagship program.
Neutral-atom builders raise rubidium demand as Quantum machines grow larger
Early neutral-atom machines often stayed below 100 qubits. New pilot systems are heading past 1,000 qubits, and every larger setup needs more rubidium inside the machine. QuEra and Pasqal have both published plans that aim for systems with more than 10,000 qubits before 2032.
That growth could quickly matter in a market this small. A worldwide group of just 50 to 100 commercial Quantum computers could use between 0.5 and 0.8 tons of rubidium each year. That would take a noticeable share of current global supply. Hardware makers may need long-term contracts before they leave grant-funded research and begin selling machines at scale.
Rubidium demand is also spreading beyond processors. Vapor cells made with the metal sit inside Quantum magnetometers, gravimeters, and new Quantum key distribution networks. These tools can support underground mapping, geological surveys, secure data links, navigation, and submarine tracking.
The United Kingdom put £106 million into Quantum sensing work in 2024 through its National Quantum Technologies Programme. Commercial sales are still small, but wider use in energy, defense, and infrastructure could create a second market for rubidium that barely exists today.
Trump signed two executive orders earlier this year that placed Quantum technology inside the United States’ industrial and security plans. One order called the field a “transformational capability” that will “drive American innovation.” The other focused on protecting encrypted systems from future attacks.
US officials are worried that rival states are collecting protected files now and storing them for later. The fear is simple. Once a large enough Quantum computer exists, some of today’s strongest encryption could become readable.
Washington created early demand as public companies spend on Quantum hardware
The orders direct the US Department of Energy to play the role of an early buyer of Quantum systems capable of doing actual science. The Department of Commerce is also advised to look into advanced purchase agreements. It will give hardware developers something that private investors have long been calling for – a guaranteed customer.
The goal is to build a fault-tolerant system capable of processing practical tasks in material science, healthcare, financial analysis, transportation, and logistics. Today’s machines still err too often and are too small to perform most commercial tasks. Developers are evaluating a number of architectures, such as trapped ions, neutral atoms, photons, and superconducting circuits.
Large public companies remain active in the race. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and IBM (NYSE: IBM) continue to fund their own Quantum programs. IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) has also reached the public market, while Quantinuum remains privately held.
The Commerce Department is said to have signed Letters of Intent worth $2 billion from nine Quantum firms in exchange for tiny ownership shares. The expanded program includes around 15 firms that specialize in Quantum technology, semiconductors, rare minerals, and defense, as Cryptopolitan reported before.
Europe is building its own machines at the same time. Dutch startup QuiX Quantum delivered a system called Carina to Germany’s DLR aerospace institute, Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad reported. QuiX was created from the University of Twente and is based in Enschede. Carina is the Netherlands’ first Quantum computer and the first known machine to use photons, or light particles, as qubits.
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