How technical benchmarks, validation methods, and real-world feasibility set the bar for advancement. 

The 2025 XPRIZE Quantum Applications Phase I finalist cohort reflects novel algorithms and approaches to quantum computing applied to real world challenges.

During Phase I of a 3-year, $5 million global challenge backed by Google Quantum AI, Google.org, and GESDA, judges evaluated teams based on the real-world application and the novelty of their quantum approach. The finalists who moved forward convincingly demonstrated how their approach could outperform classical methods on well-defined, real-world problems. 

As the project moves into Phase II, XPRIZE is opening a Wildcard Registration window from January 14 to March 4, 2026, inviting a limited number of additional teams to be considered alongside Phase I finalists. Teams entering Phase II through the Wildcard pathway will compete for the remaining $4 million in Phase II prize awards but are not eligible for Phase I milestone funding. 

Rigorous Judging Criteria  

Among finalist teams, quantum advantage was treated as a hypothesis to be demonstrated, not an assumption. Successful submissions grounded their claims in problem-specific analysis, identifying the classical methods used today and the bottlenecks those methods face. 

Rather than applying well-known quantum algorithms in a general way, teams justified why a particular quantum approach structurally matched the problem at hand among three types of contributions: 

• Novel Algorithms: Developing new quantum algorithms to solve a class of problems with quantum advantage.
• New Application: Preparing existing quantum algorithms to solve previously unknown applications with a quantum advantage.
• Enhanced Performance: Reducing the resources required for a quantum computer to reach quantum advantage for an already established algorithm or application.

This framing allowed judges to assess whether a proposed advantage was technically coherent, measurable, and suitable for benchmarking in the competition. 

Application Fields Represented 

Finalist teams addressed challenges across several high-impact domains, including: 

• Drug discovery and molecular simulation, where quantum methods were applied to specific, classically intractable chemical systems 
• Industrial chemistry and materials science, focused on optimization and simulation tasks with clearly defined performance bottlenecks 
• Sustainability and energy-related systems, including optimization and modeling problems with well-established classical baselines 

Importantly, teams did not attempt to solve entire fields. Instead, they focused on narrow, well-scoped problem instances where classical methods demonstrably struggle. This reflects how credible quantum advantage is most clearly demonstrated, without limiting eligible application areas.  

Finalist Team Benchmarks and the Opportunity for Wildcards 

Several characteristics consistently separated advancing teams from the broader applicant pool:  

• Their claims were narrow and precise. Teams focused on specific problem instances and clearly defined objectives, rather than broad or generic assertions of quantum advantage. They articulated where classical approaches begin to break down and why a quantum method could plausibly help. 
• The work was already highly developed. Given the tight timelines of Phase II, advancing teams demonstrated that their algorithms, validation strategies, and benchmarking frameworks were sufficiently mature for immediate evaluation. 
• Teams paired technical novelty with clear feasibility reasoning. Early resource estimates, realistic treatment of implementation constraints, and credible timelines indicated that proposals were grounded in current and near-term quantum capabilities. 

Where Submissions Fell Short 

While individual feedback remains confidential, patterns observed across non-advancing submissions provide clarity. Common challenges included:  

• Applying existing quantum methods without sufficiently demonstrating an advantage over strong classical baselines 
• Selecting broadly appealing problems without clearly explaining why classical approaches are insufficient 
• Developing interesting quantum primitives without a convincing connection to real-world use. 

In these cases, judges could not assess comparative performance, feasibility, or impact due to insufficient information. 

What This Means for Phase II and Wildcard Entrants 

The goal of the Wildcard Registration is to surface new thoroughly vetted proposals that can withstand rigorous comparison with selected finalists. 

Because of the compressed timeline, wildcard submissions will be assessed against the same criteria and performance bar used to select Phase I finalists. Review the submission criteria to self-assess readiness here. 

What’s Next?  

During Phase II, accepted wildcard and finalist teams will describe the hardware specifications needed to run their quantum algorithm, provide evidence that it is faster or more accurate than the best available classical approach, and project the positive real-world impact it would have on broader society if it could be implemented on future fault-tolerant quantum hardware. 

Judges will evaluate teams according to the criteria, with up to three grand prize winners receiving a total up to $3 million and between two and five runners-up (according to the discretion of the judges) splitting an additional $1 million. 

The 2025 finalist cohort indicates that advancement in XPRIZE Quantum Applications reflects a transition from potential toward proof. This is a timely moment for quantum computing; join us in shaping a future where technology meets the world's most pressing challenges. 

If your team is prepared to meet that challenge, we invite you to apply through the wildcard pathway today.