Executive Summary
France’s quantum sector moved further into a deployment-focused phase in June 2026, with policy, infrastructure and commercial activity increasingly tied to national security, high-performance computing and post-quantum cybersecurity. The world took notice as France’s cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, said it will stop certifying security products that do not include quantum-resistant encryption beginning in 2027. The policy would push government agencies and critical infrastructure operators away from conventional cryptographic systems and sharpen France’s role as one of Europe’s most assertive governments on post-quantum migration.
Public infrastructure also remained central to the country’s strategy. Following the second phase of France’s National Quantum Strategy, GENCI and Alice & Bob signed an agreement for France to acquire an 18-cat-qubit quantum computer for national research infrastructure. The purchase marks a concrete step toward placing domestic quantum hardware inside France’s public computing ecosystem and reflects the government’s broader effort to connect quantum development with sovereign research and industrial capacity.
Commercial momentum was led by Alice & Bob and Quandela. Alice & Bob unveiled its Helium Quantum System, expanded its work with Bull on quantum-HPC integration, and was selected for the French Tech Next40 for the second consecutive year. Quandela reported progress on low-latency integration of photonic quantum processors with NVIDIA NVQLink and deepened its international deployment push through a partnership with Qatar’s Mekdam Holding Group. Pasqal also continued to prepare for a more public-market-facing phase, appointing Stéphane Rougeot as chief financial officer as it advances its planned business combination. Earlier in June, Quobly announced the closing of a €115 million Series A financing.
