Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two pieces of legislation aimed at bolstering quantum computing and fusion energy research in the state during a press conference at UC Berkeley on Friday.
Newsom was joined by lawmakers and university leaders when he signed Senate Bill 80, authored by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, and Assembly Bill 940, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland.
Caballero’s SB 80 will create regional fusion energy hubs to speed and support the research and development of the technology. Fusion reactions, in simple terms, are created by forcing atoms together to make energy.
Fusion is considered cleaner, lower impact and more sustainable than other types of energy generation, such as fossil fuels.
Wicks’ bipartisan AB 940, meanwhile, focuses on the growth of the quantum computing sector through strategic investment. Under the newly signed law, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) will be tasked with presenting the Legislature with an industry strategy on or before July 1, 2026.
In his comments, the governor underscored the importance of investment in the quantum and fusion sciences, calling the emerging technologies imperative pieces to maintaining the state’s dominance in the high-tech fields.
“We have to invest in our lead. California is sort of infamous, dominating sectors and then, frankly, resting on our laurels,” he said. “I’m not naive about what Illinois [and] Connecticut have been doing in the quantum space. I’m not naive about the investments others are making. Success, after all, leaves clues.”
Wicks, in her comments at the press conference, said investments in the quantum computing space will stretch far beyond the state’s typical technology strongholds of Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. The implications of the technology, she added, will be seen across science, research and the national security sectors.
“This should be bipartisan. We’re talking about science, research, national security and leading our nation in a time when it needs leadership. And I think that’s what you see here today by the signing of those two bills,” Wicks said.