AWS and JPMorgan are betting big on quantum computing for finance

AWS and JPMorgan Chase have formalized a multi-year research partnership focused on applying quantum computing to core financial problems: portfolio optimization, risk analysis, and the kind of complex mathematical heavy lifting that classical computers handle slowly, expensively, or not at all.

The collaboration runs primarily through Amazon Braket, AWS’s managed quantum computing service, which lets researchers experiment with different quantum hardware without building their own machines. Together, the teams are developing hybrid quantum-classical algorithms where quantum processors handle the parts of a problem they’re uniquely suited for, then hand off results to traditional computers for the rest.

A key milestone came in May 2024, when a joint study by the two organizations examined quantum speedups for a class of problems called maximum independent set problems. The findings were published in Physical Review Research, a peer-reviewed journal.

At AWS re:Invent 2025, the partnership reported scaling hybrid quantum experiments to hundreds of qubits using Rydberg atom hardware. The session specifically highlighted a quantum algorithm called qReduMIS, focused on optimization problems with direct financial applications.

JPMorgan has had skin in this game since at least 2020, when the bank established a dedicated internal quantum computing research team.

The crypto angle nobody’s ignoring

JPMorgan’s quantum research explicitly targets “fortifying defenses against potential cryptocurrency vulnerabilities attributable to quantum advancements.” The concern centers on sufficiently powerful quantum computers posing a threat to the cryptographic foundations of most blockchain networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, by cracking the mathematical problems protecting crypto wallets today.

This concern is pushing development of post-quantum cryptography — new encryption standards designed to hold up even when quantum computers become powerful enough to stress-test current methods. The National Institute of Standards and Technology finalized its first set of post-quantum cryptographic standards in 2024.

What the broader landscape looks like

In June 2026, JPMorgan unveiled a Quantum-AI Data Centre built in collaboration with OQC, a UK-based quantum hardware company, and semiconductor giant AMD. The facility is specifically oriented toward portfolio optimization using machine learning layered on top of quantum processing.

Around the same time, AWS announced a separate partnership with QuEra Computing, a Boston-based firm that builds neutral-atom quantum computers. The product of that partnership is a machine called Libra, a fault-tolerant quantum computer targeting more than 256 logical qubits, scheduled to be available through Amazon Braket in 2028. Logical qubits are error-corrected, meaning they’re far more stable and reliable for actual computation than the physical qubits typically cited in hardware announcements.

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