London is hosting a summit in October specifically to figure out how quantum computing and AI should actually work together

[Golden Tara]

The 2026 City Quantum & AI Summit will take place October 7 at London's Mansion House under the theme Connections in Chaos, bringing together leaders from government, defense, industry, academia and finance to examine how quantum computing and artificial intelligence are reshaping critical sectors. Now in its sixth year, the one day conference opens with a defense and security discussion chaired by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, former chief of the Defence Staff, featuring executives from Multiverse Computing, Delta.g, Leonardo UK and defense technology firm Helsing, followed by a keynote from NATO assistant secretary general Jean-Charles Ellerman Kingombe on cyber defense in the quantum and AI era

The program moves from defense into life sciences, with Cleveland Clinic's chief research information officer Dr Lara Jehi, the Wellcome Sanger Institute's James McCafferty and GSK's Anthony Rowe discussing how AI already accelerates biomedical research today, alongside how future quantum computers could improve drug discovery by modeling molecular interactions beyond the reach of conventional computers. A space sector panel held with the Farnborough International Airshow features Planet's president and CFO Ashley Fieglein Johnson, and a financing panel brings together HSBC Innovation Bank UK's CEO Emily Turner and London Stock Exchange chief executive Dame Julia Hoggett to discuss how capital markets can support quantum and AI companies moving from research into commercial deployment

A featured session titled Entangled Exchange pairs Oxford Quantum Circuits CEO Gerald Mullally with Nvidia's quantum manager Nic Harrigan to explore how quantum computing and AI are becoming complementary technologies, AI already helps design, calibrate and operate quantum hardware, while future quantum systems may eventually accelerate certain AI workloads in return. The summit closes with a discussion between Roman Orús, a member of the United Nations Independent Scientific Panel on AI, and Google DeepMind's Thore Graepel on the broader societal implications of increasingly powerful computing systems, reflecting organizers' stated view that the biggest advances will come from connecting these technologies and industries rather than treating them as separate, siloed fields

The City Quantum & AI Summit to Examine How Industries Can Work Together as Quantum Computing and AI Advancethequantuminsider.com

[Brad73]

The lineup spanning defense, medicine, space and finance in one single day conference really does capture how broadly quantum and AI convergence is expected to matter across unrelated sectors

[Rogue Sam]

Entangled Exchange pairing an actual quantum hardware CEO with Nvidia's quantum lead is exactly the kind of session that should produce a substantive discussion rather than the usual vague buzzword panel about AI and quantum synergy

[FairDos96]

NATO's continued deep involvement in these summits shows how seriously the alliance treats quantum's long term implications for cybersecurity, even while practical code breaking quantum computers remain years away

[Outlaw56]

The life sciences panel bringing together Cleveland Clinic, the Sanger Institute and GSK together is a strong lineup for exploring where quantum simulation could eventually matter most concretely for real world drug discovery

[Outlaw92]

Connections in Chaos as the framing theme captures something real about this moment, quantum and AI are advancing fast enough that cross-sector coordination has become necessary rather than optional

[BretHart_X]

Curious how much actual substantive technical content comes out of a conference with this many different high level executives across so many different sectors in just one single day

[NoMercyMatthew89]

The financing panel featuring the London Stock Exchange's CEO alongside a specialist innovation bank captures an underdiscussed angle, how capital markets actually need to evolve to support technologies this early stage and capital intensive

[Iniesta96]

Six years running for this summit shows real staying power for an event this specifically focused, that longevity itself is a decent signal the industry finds genuine ongoing value in this particular gathering

[Rob98]

This is exactly the kind of event that reflects how mainstream and cross-industry the quantum and AI conversation has become, spanning finance ministers' concerns down to genuine molecular drug discovery applications

[Mia_76]

Closing with a UN AI panel member alongside a DeepMind researcher discussing broader societal implications is a fitting way to end a day that otherwise focuses heavily on individual sector applications