Ethlabs proposes 2027 target for Ethereum post-quantum, post-AI security upgrade

Ethereum research and development nonprofit Ethlabs has proposed 2027 as the target year for building Ethereum’s post-quantum and post-AI security framework. In its newly released "pqai27" proposal, Ethlabs said Ethereum should prioritize strengthening base-protocol security in response to advances in quantum computing and AI’s improving ability to identify software vulnerabilities. Ethlabs said the U.S. government has moved up its target timeline for addressing quantum-computing risks to 2030 from 2035, while Google is also pursuing post-quantum capabilities by 2029. The proposal has two phases. The first, "pqai-ready," would complete a post-quantum upgrade of Ethereum’s consensus layer and secure a path for all users to migrate to post-quantum accounts. The goal is to keep the network running, albeit with reduced throughput, even if existing cryptographic systems are broken earlier than expected. The second phase, "pqai-scaled," would support post-quantum transactions and data availability at processing volumes similar to those of ordinary transactions. Ethlabs said this would require post-quantum signature aggregation and post-quantum data-availability technology. To that end, the group proposed reviewing the functional scope of Hegotá, the next hard fork.