A joint venture between Quantinuum and Al Rabban Capital could put quantum tech in the hands of the Qatari government, thus potentially exposing American civilians and political leaders to cyber-espionage attacks.
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A Qatari business conglomerate co-owned by Khalifa bin Mohammed al-Rabban, a Qatari national with reported links to terrorism, has announced a $1 billion joint venture with Quantinuum, an American-based world leader in quantum computing, to accelerate the use of quantum technologies in the war-torn Middle East. Part of a package of American-Qatari economic commitments totaling $1.2 trillion, the deal has prompted fears that dangerous cyber warfare technologies could end up in the hands of America’s adversaries, according to a referral the Middle East Forum (MEF), a Philadelphia-based think tank, recently submitted to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
The Gulf emirate has displayed a willingness to use cyber-espionage to advance its political objectives, and access to the latest in quantum tech could seriously heighten this threat.
With the potential to break modern encryption methods at alarming speeds, quantum computing is expected to revolutionize cybersecurity and information sciences. That could pose significant threats to national security by compromising access to critical infrastructure, financial institutions, and national intelligence. Industry analysts warn that quantum computing demands the same rigorous oversight and safeguards as nuclear technology or biological weapons.
Yet, a joint venture between Quantinuum and Al Rabban Capital could put quantum tech in the hands of the Qatari government, according to the MEF letter, thus potentially exposing American civilians and political leaders to cyber-espionage attacks. Or, worse, the MEF argues, the joint venture could reveal code-breaking quantum secrets to Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Rabban, the managing partner and former deputy chairman of Al Rabban Holding Company, who, in 2017, was placed on a “prohibited list of terrorists” by four Arab governments.
Founded in 1964, the Al Rabban Holding Company oversees Al Rabban Capital and includes subsidiaries dealing in bottled water, plastics, real estate, and construction. By 2016, the family-run business was responsible for 80 percent of non-oil GDP throughout the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council, according to a leading accounting firm.
The late Khalid bin Mohammed al-Rabban established the company and served as its chairman and majority shareholder. A Qatari activist and former economics professor, Ali Khalifa al-Kuwari, claimed that he and Khalid al-Rabban were among the cofounders of the Qatari Popular Committee to Support the Palestinian Intifada, a group that funded uprisings against Israel, according to the committee’s founding documents from 1988.
The Gulf emirate has displayed a willingness to use cyber-espionage to advance its political objectives, and access to the latest in quantum tech could seriously heighten this threat.
Khalid’s son, Khalifa bin Mohammed al-Rabban, took his father’s political extracurriculars to new extremes. A managing partner and former deputy chairman of Al Rabban Holding, Khalifa al-Rabban was placed on “prohibited lists of terrorists” in 2017 by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt as part of a joint effort to “combat terrorism and dry up its sources of funding.” The list included 59 individuals and 12 entities that have “ties to Qatar” and that “serve suspect agendas.” Although the UAE removed al-Rabban from its terrorism list in 2023 without citing cause, he remained on Bahrain’s 2023 terrorism list for money laundering and terror finance until he was removed in January of this year, again without explanation. Similarly, he no longer appears on Egypt’s terror list for 2025. It isn’t clear if Saudi Arabia has followed suit.
The deal could pose significant threats to national security by compromising access to critical infrastructure, financial institutions, and national intelligence.
When he isn’t managing his family’s fortunes, Khalifa al-Rabban serves as the president and board member of the Swiss-based Alkarama Foundation, which was founded and formerly chaired by Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, a U.S.- and U.N.-sanctioned terrorist financier. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, al-Nuaimi reportedly helped funnel more than $2 million a month to al-Qaeda in Iraq during the height of U.S. operations there, prompting The Telegraph to call him “one of the world’s most prolific terrorist fundraisers.” In disputing these allegations, Alkarama has noted that the United States has not sanctioned the foundation itself, only al-Nuaimi.
Khalifa al-Rabban is also a cofounder and member of the board of trustees of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC), where al-Nuaimi served as secretary general. A 2017 study from the Global Muslim Brotherhood Research Center described GAAC as a terror-linked NGO whose members have hosted Hamas leaders, recruited al-Qaeda operatives, and sanctioned attacks on American forces in Iraq. At least seven GAAC leaders or their organizations are designated as terrorists by the United States, the European Union, or the United Nations, while Arabic media reports have identified at least three of the group’s officials as ISIS financiers.
With links to the al-Rabban family, the Qatari state will likely benefit from the company’s foray into quantum sciences. Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Rabban, a cousin and close business partner to the board members at Al Rabban Holding, is connected to the Qatari royal family. He is married to the niece of Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani, a member of the ruling family and founder of the RAF Foundation. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a private research institution critical of Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, claims that one of the RAF Foundation’s cofounders was the above-mentioned al-Nuaimi. Other members, according to CEP, include Mohammed Jassim al-Sulaiti, whom the four Arab governments included in their terrorism list in 2017, identifying him as “an aide to Khalifa Muhammad Turki al-Subaiy,” whom the U.S. Treasury Department designated in 2008 “for providing financial and material support to al Qaida.” Like Khalifa al-Rabban, al-Sulaiti was removed from the Arab list in 2023 without explanation.
The Qatari government is already working with Quantinuum. In a partnership announced just after the Al Rabban deal was inked, researchers at the Qatar Center for Quantum Computing at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha were granted access to Quantinuum’s quantum computers. The program’s lab was funded through a $10 million grant from Qatar’s Ministry of Defense, raising questions about the military applications that Qatar hopes to harness through its work with Quantinuum.
The U.S. government has a responsibility to safeguard against quantum threats, and this includes preventing companies from auctioning away sensitive research in exchange for profit.
The Gulf emirate has displayed a willingness to use cyber-espionage to advance its political objectives, and access to the latest in quantum tech could seriously heighten this threat. A complaint filed by a former Republican fundraiser claims that, between 2014 and 2018, agents allegedly working for Qatar hacked Americans in a campaign that targeted hundreds of political leaders, counterterrorism officials, international actors, and athletes, with the goal to discredit Doha’s regional adversaries. Critics of Qatar who threatened to expose labor abuses in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Doha were reportedly targeted by a gang of criminal hackers allegedly linked to the Qatari regime.
In 2017, Qatar allegedly hired a U.S. firm to carry out “intelligence collection” and “information operations” against U.S. Congress members who sought to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. The Qatari operation, dubbed “Project ENDGAME,” according to former U.S. Ambassador Mark Wallace, the CEO of the CEP, “hacked accounts that contained email correspondences” belonging to the leaders of the CEP.
Quantinuum and Al Rabban Holding have not responded to inquiries from the MEF regarding the nature of the joint venture and concerns over the Al Rabban family’s links to terrorism.
The MEF referral filed with CFIUS on June 4 outlines these risks associated with the Quantinuum-Al Rabban Capital deal. The committee has the authority to recommend that the president suspend the joint venture on national security grounds.
The U.S. government has a responsibility to safeguard against quantum threats, and this includes preventing companies from auctioning away sensitive research in exchange for profit.
Published originally under the title “Doha’s Quantum Threat.”
Benjamin Baird is a public affairs specialist who organizes grassroots advocacy campaigns in support of Middle East Forum projects. He mobilizes constituencies to support MEF policy objectives, coordinates effective public pressure campaigns, and uses bold and creative techniques to disrupt the policy-making arena. Mr. Baird is a U.S. Army infantry veteran with a B.A. from American Military University. His writing can be found at National Review, New York Post, Jerusalem Post, and other prominent media outlets.
