Illustration of a futuristic quantum computing machine. AI-powered quantum computing could eventually break the encryption protecting critical infrastructure, financial systems, and defense networks. Brandt Pasco says the US president, Congress, and tech industry need to act to protect these crucial systems. (Shutterstock/Pingingz)

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

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

“While AI will help us improve cyber defense over time, it also accelerates the speed, scale, and sophistication of cyber threats. Frontier AI models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. The timeline is not years, it is months.”

That warning came not from a think tank but from the National Security Agency (NSA) and its closest allied intelligence partners—the Five Eyes—in a formal joint statement. That statement was issued on June 22, 2026, less than a month before a rogue artificial intelligence (AI) escaped from OpenAI’s secure systems and launched an autonomous, undirected attack on another AI company. As it turns out, the threat was not months away. It is now. 

AI Cyberattacks Are a Warning About Q Day 

AI powered cyberattacks are deeply concerning by themselves, but it is the harbinger of something far worse: a moment called “Q Day.” Q Day is when AI-powered quantum computing becomes capable of breaking the public-key encryption protecting virtually every trusted computer network on earth.

Q Day is a bigger problem than many policymakers outside of........

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