Quantum sovereignty in sharp focus following United States executive orders to migrate systems to NIST-approved post-quantum cryptography by 2031

Abu Dhabi, UAE - At the Confidential Computing Summit in San Francisco, OPAQUE yesterday launched OPAQUE 3.0, introducing new capabilities that enable organizations to produce verifiable, cryptographic proof of how their AI systems operate. The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied-research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), is a founding partner of the open standard behind the release and has contributed the post-quantum cryptography that secures it.

Advanced AI is increasingly entrusted with autonomous tasks as AI agents (systems that operate at machine speed across an organization’s infrastructure) now act directly on sensitive information, from patient records and financial data to classified intelligence. In such settings, assurance alone no longer suffices: Organizations, and governments in particular, must be able to demonstrate how their AI systems behave and that governing rules are enforced.

For nations, the matter is one of sovereignty: the ability to verify independently how AI is governed, without reliance on an external provider’s assurances. OPAQUE 3.0 addresses this directly. Each action an AI system takes is governed by rules enforced in hardware and generates a tamper-resistant, independently verifiable record that auditors, regulators, and customers can confirm.

On 22 June 2026, the United States issued executive orders directing the migration of federal systems to post-quantum cryptography and closer coordination with allies and partners on quantum security. This signals that quantum readiness now sits at the center of national strategy among leading technology nations. For the UAE, whose advanced-technology partnership with the United States has deepened under the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership signed in 2025, the development reinforces a shared imperative to protect AI and critical data against quantum-era threats while retaining sovereign control over how that protection is governed.

OPAQUE 3.0’s distinguishing feature is the breadth of its protection. It secures AI across the entire lifecycle from model training, through deployment, to the autonomous agents now entering production and combines this with post-quantum cryptography, safeguards engineered to remain robust against the quantum computers anticipated in the years ahead, which could compromise present-day encryption. According to OPAQUE, no other platform currently offers this combination.

Ion Stoica, Co-Founder of OPAQUE, said: “The future of AI depends on unlocking the data organizations have never been able to touch. Most organizations sit on a corpus of data too sensitive to use and too valuable to ignore. OPAQUE is the only platform delivering hardware-attested cryptographic evidence across the full AI lifecycle training, fine-tuning, inference, and agents — with protections engineered to withstand quantum-era threats. That combination doesn’t exist anywhere else in the market today.”

As a founding partner, TII anchors the standard in sovereign-AI deployments and integrates its Abu Dhabi-developed post-quantum cryptography into OPAQUE 3.0. The integrity of an audit records depends on the strength of the cryptography protecting it over time: data intercepted today could be decrypted by future quantum systems, making long-term resilience essential. The contribution aligns with the UAE’s National Encryption Policy, which mandates a national transition to post-quantum cryptography and identifies AI systems among the infrastructure to be assessed for readiness.

Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, said: “Sovereignty in the age of AI is defined by the ability to verify, not trust. Open, transparent standards give organizations and nations the confidence to independently validate how AI systems are governed, while post-quantum cryptography preserves the confidence against the security challenges of the future.”

The launch marks a further milestone in a deliberate national strategy. Earlier this year, cryptographic AI technology developed at TII was acquired by OPAQUE and deployed at global scale in the first instance of UAE-developed technology of its kind being adopted in this manner by a major US technology company. With OPAQUE 3.0, TII now contributes to the open global standard defining how organizations establish trust in their AI.

OPAQUE 3.0 was unveiled yesterday at the Confidential Computing Summit and will become generally available in July 2026. The standard is open, with a founding coalition of partners to be announced at launch.

ABOUT TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION INSTITUTE (TII):  

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is the dedicated applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). TII is a pioneering global research and development center that focuses on applied research and new-age technology capabilities. The Institute has 9 dedicated research centers in advanced materials, autonomous robotics, cryptography, AI and digital science, directed energy, quantum, secure systems, propulsion and space, and renewable and sustainable energy. By working with exceptional talent, universities, research institutions, and industry partners from all over the world, TII connects an intellectual community and contributes to building an R&D ecosystem that reinforces the status of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a global hub for innovation.    

For more information, visit www.tii.ae