AI Speeds Quantum Threat, Prompting Crypto to Adopt Post‑Quantum Cryptography

TL;DR: AI is shortening the timeline for quantum computers to break today’s encryption, prompting crypto projects to adopt post‑quantum schemes now.\n\nNEAR Protocol will let users swap cryptographic algorithms inside existing wallets, a move that signals broader industry readiness.\n\nSecurity experts warn that artificial intelligence is accelerating quantum‑computing research, shrinking the gap between today’s defenses and future attacks. Machine‑learning models are already used to optimize quantum error correction, a key bottleneck in building usable quantum machines.\n\nAlex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, said that the joint advance of quantum computing and AI means existing security practices can no longer be trusted in any sector. He warned that reliance on current elliptic‑curve cryptography could fail across finance, communications, and government systems.\n\nIllia Polosukhin, co‑founder of NEAR Protocol and former Google AI researcher, noted that AI is already accelerating scientific discovery, including quantum hardware development. He pointed out that machine‑learning tools used at Google in 2016 to find new materials are now being applied to design the next generation of quantum processors.\n\nNEAR Protocol said it will add post‑quantum cryptography to its account layer, letting users change the underlying signature scheme while keeping the same wallet address. The upgrade enables crypto‑agility without requiring users to move assets to new wallets.\n\nThe combination of faster quantum progress and AI‑driven threat hunting raises the risk of harvest‑now‑decrypt‑later campaigns. Adversaries can store encrypted traffic today, expecting future quantum computers to reveal private keys and compromise blockchain addresses, wallets, and web services.\n\nWhat Defenders Should Do:\n- Inventory all cryptographic primitives in use, focusing on elliptic‑curve schemes.\n- Test hybrid constructions that combine classical and NIST‑post‑quantum algorithms such as CRYSTALS‑Kyber or Dilithium.\n- Follow NIST’s post‑quantum cryptography standardization process and apply library updates as soon as approved versions appear (e.g., OpenSSL 3.0 patches).\n- Deploy monitoring for unusual data exfiltration that matches harvest‑now‑decrypt‑later patterns.\n- Plan for crypto‑agility: design systems that can swap algorithms without downtime or asset migration.\n\nWatch for the first mainnet deployment of NEAR’s PQC upgrade and any NIST‑selected algorithm announcements in the coming quarters.