Ethlabs proposes Ethereum to achieve quantum-resistant and AI-resistant upgrades by 2027.

BlockBeats news, November 12: Ethlabs posted on the Ethereum developer community forum, proposing 2027 as the target year for Ethereum to achieve Post-Quantum and Post-AI capabilities, calling the plan "pqai27." The proposal argues that with the rapid advancement of AI capabilities, accelerating development of quantum computing, and the enhanced ability of AI models to discover software vulnerabilities at scale, Ethereum should prioritize strengthening the security of its underlying protocol to prepare for potential future cryptographic risks and cyberattacks.

Ethlabs noted that the U.S. government has moved its target timeline for addressing quantum risks from 2035 to 2030, while Google plans to achieve post-quantum capability by 2029. Meanwhile, AI is solving numerous long-standing mathematical problems and can also discover software vulnerabilities at scale. Ethlabs believes that although there is currently no evidence that existing cryptographic primitives will definitely be broken by AI, the related risks have become difficult to predict accurately, making it necessary to advance security upgrades ahead of time.

On the technical roadmap, Ethlabs divides the goal into two phases: first, "pqai-ready," meaning the Ethereum consensus layer achieves post-quantum upgrades, all users have a path to migrate to post-quantum accounts, and if existing cryptography fails prematurely, the network can still continue operating at reduced processing capacity. Second, "pqai-scaled," meaning supporting post-quantum transactions and data availability at full network capacity, with the goal of enabling post-quantum transactions to reach the processing scale of ordinary transactions, including post-quantum signature aggregation and post-quantum data availability solutions. To achieve this goal, Ethlabs recommends reassessing the scope of features for the upcoming hard fork Hegotá and reconsidering upgrades that are not on the critical path for pqai27. Among these, Frames and related post-quantum account proposals are still regarded as key components; FOCIL needs to be reassessed for its impact on upgrade progress and post-quantum compatibility.

Additionally, Ethereum needs to choose between retrofitting the existing Gasper consensus protocol for post-quantum security and transitioning to decoupled consensus. Ethlabs stated that to concentrate resources on advancing pqai27, it will withdraw the Quick Slots feature previously sought for Hegotá and plans to continue pushing that feature in 2028. The Glamsterdam upgrade and its scaling plans will proceed as originally planned. This roadmap remains a proposal put forward by Ethlabs and requires further discussion and determination by Ethereum core developers.