Amazon Sees Commercial Quantum Computing Arriving Within a Decade

June 18, 2026 -- Today’s top stories: Amazon Sees Commercial Quantum Computing Arriving Within a Decade, UK-EU Summit Signals New Chapter After Brexit, and London Adopts Singapore-Inspired Housing Strategy.

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By CommonWealth Magazine
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2026-06-18

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Amazon AI exec predicts first 'commercially useful' quantum computers in 5-7 years

Amazon's top artificial intelligence executive, Peter Desantis, has predicted that the first "commercially useful" quantum computer will be available in the next 5 to 7 years.

Desantis, who is leading a new Amazon organization focused on AI models, chips and quantum computing, said the technology will then grow in a similar way to the advancement of semiconductor capabilities.

He added that the technology will then grow in a similar way to the advancement of semiconductor capabilities. Quantum computing proponents claim the technology will be able to solve problems that current computers can't.

In classical computing, information is stored in bits; each bit is either a one or zero. Quantum computing uses quantum bits, or Qubits, which can be zero, one, or something in between.

Last year, Amazon unveiled Ocelot, its quantum computing chip designed to tackle the problem of error correction, a key challenge in the realm of quantum computing. Quantum computing is becoming an increasingly competitive field with Tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and IBM developing the technology, as well as a slew of other startups.

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cnbc - Amazon AI exec predicts first 'commercially useful' quantum computers in 5-7 years

UK-EU summit set for July 22

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the second UK-EU summit will take place in Brussels on 22 July.

The announcement comes as Starmer faces pressure to reconsider rejoining the EU.

The Prime Minister has reaffirmed his government's commitment to not re-enter the bloc, but said there had been real progress with the relationship, which was slowly but surely building.

Starmer's potential leadership rival, Andy Burnham, said last September that he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime.

Wes Streeting, the former health Secretary and another likely leadership contender, said in a speech last month that he would like to see the UK back in the bloc and called for a new special relationship with the EU.

Starmer's EU dream appears to have been broken after a damning verdict was delivered from the man who oversaw Britain's exit from the bloc.

The Labour government is seeking to reset relations with the European Union a decade on from the Brexit vote, with an announcement on Tuesday that the second UK-EU summit will take place in Brussels on 22 July.

The Prime Minister said Britain would be at the "heart of Europe" as the date was announced at the margins of the G7 summit in Evian-Les-Bains, France.

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London mayor Sadiq Khan launches 'S'pore-style' housing approach to build 'affordable homes'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a new housing model for the capital, inspired by Singapore's.

Under the "Singapore style" initiative, City Hall, the headquarters of the Greater London authority (GLA), has become a direct partner in developing new homes for the first time.

The model is "inspired by the way new homes are built in Singapore, where the state plays a central role in housing delivery", according to a press release from the London government. Khan believes that more active involvement from London's City Hall will help unlock stalled developments and boost the supply of affordable housing.

The GLA will invest £100M (S$ 172M) to support plans to build 7,000 new homes in East London, with about 30% of these homes being "genuinely affordable".

However, some experts have cautioned that Singapore's success is built on conditions that do not exist in London.

A property economist cited by the BBC said that Singapore can effectively control and manage the housing market because of its consistent governance and policy, and because the government owns around 90% of the land. Khan acknowledged the differences between the two cities but argued that the initiative meant for London to take inspiration from Singapore rather than attempting to replicate its model entirely.

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