IEEE QAI 2026 — Quantum Artificial Intelligence, Nottingham

IEEE QAI 2026, the 2nd IEEE International Conference on Quantum Artificial Intelligence, runs December 13-16, 2026 in Nottingham, UK, jointly hosted by Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham. As the only IEEE-flagship conference dedicated specifically to the convergence of quantum computing and artificial intelligence, QAI sits at one of the most speculative but fastest-moving frontiers in the field - and as a second edition it is past the uncertainty of an inaugural event while still small enough to be a true community-builder. The conference is sponsored by three IEEE bodies (the Computational Intelligence Society, the Computer Society, and the Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society) and runs in association with the IEEE CIS Task Force on Quantum Intelligence, which gives it institutional weight and a clear route to IEEE Xplore for accepted work. The intellectual premise is the two-way street between quantum and AI: quantum computing as a potential accelerator and new substrate for machine learning (quantum machine learning, quantum-enhanced optimization, variational and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms), and AI techniques applied to quantum problems (learning quantum control, error mitigation, circuit design, and characterizing quantum systems).

For attendees, the value is concentration - this is where the people seriously working on quantum machine learning gather, rather than the topic appearing as a single token session at a general AI or general quantum conference. The organizing committee reflects that specialization, with a general chair at Nottingham Trent University, a co-chair from the University of Nottingham, and program chairs drawn from universities in Italy, the UK and Germany. The program is structured around full peer-reviewed papers plus special sessions, tutorials and a doctoral colloquium - the special-session and tutorial proposals were reviewed and accepted by late May 2026, so by the meeting attendees will find curated thematic tracks alongside the main technical program, keynotes and social events. Accepted papers go through standard IEEE peer review and are published in the conference proceedings (IEEE Xplore route via the sponsoring societies), making this a citable, archival venue.

Practically, the full-paper submission system opened on 29 May 2026 via Microsoft CMT, with a submission deadline of 30 June 2026, acceptance notifications on 31 August, and final camera-ready papers due 30 September. Who should attend: quantum-computing researchers curious about machine-learning methods; ML and computational-intelligence researchers exploring quantum algorithms and hardware; physicists working on quantum information; and PhD students and industry researchers from the growing quantum-software sector who want to plug into a focused, IEEE-backed community. Nottingham is a compact, well-connected UK university city, and the mid-December timing makes this a natural year-end venue for the quantum-AI community. For anyone betting that the quantum and AI trajectories will increasingly intersect - sceptically or enthusiastically - QAI 2026 is the dedicated forum to pressure-test that bet against current results.