SandboxAQ Strikes 5‑Year Pentagon Deal to Shield U.S. Networks from AI and Quantum “Q‑Day” Threats

SandboxAQ has secured a five‑year agreement with the U.S. Department of War Chief Information Officer to deploy its AQtive Guard cybersecurity platform across Pentagon systems, marking a major step in the government’s push to prepare for both AI‑driven intrusions and the coming era of quantum decryption. The deal, announced in a CNBC interview with SandboxAQ CEO Jack Hidary, will focus first on automatically discovering and inventorying the department’s cryptographic assets, a prerequisite to transitioning sensitive systems to newly finalized post‑quantum cryptography standards from NIST.​

During the interview, Hidary described a “dual-front” cyber risk: increasingly sophisticated attacks that use generative AI as an entry vector, and a looming “Q‑Day” when large-scale quantum computers could break widely used RSA and related encryption schemes that underpin secure banking, telecom, messaging, and defense communications. He cited recent examples of state-linked actors experimenting with commercial AI models for offensive cyber operations and argued that agencies and companies must rapidly adopt post‑quantum–safe algorithms and continuous cryptographic asset monitoring to remain resilient.​

Beyond technical threats, the conversation turned to the broader economic impact of AI, referencing Oaktree cofounder Howard Marks’ warning that rapid automation could deepen inequality and fuel political unrest if job losses are not managed. Hidary countered that AI infrastructure build‑out is already creating new blue‑collar demand, particularly in construction and advanced manufacturing, but emphasized that governments and firms must invest heavily in retraining and re‑industrialization in areas like advanced materials, batteries, and magnet production to ensure that AI and quantum technologies translate into broad-based employment gains rather than social disruption.​

Source: CNBC interview with SandboxAQ CEO Jack Hidary and related press materials on the SandboxAQ–DoW CIO AQtive Guard agreement and NIST post‑quantum cryptography standards.