Originally reported by BlockBeats on November 12, 2026, at 11:03 a.m. UTC+8.
Ethlabs has proposed “pqai27”, a target for Ethereum to develop post-quantum and “post-AI” resilience by 2027. In a post to the Ethereum developers’ forum, it argued that advances in quantum computing and AI-assisted vulnerability discovery warrant earlier work on protocol security. This is Ethlabs’ proposal, not an approved upgrade schedule.
Ethlabs cited what it described as a shift in the U.S. government’s quantum-risk target from 2035 to 2030 and Google’s plan to achieve post-quantum capabilities before 2029. It also pointed to AI’s ability to find software vulnerabilities at scale and work on long-unsolved mathematical problems. Ethlabs acknowledged that there is currently no evidence AI will necessarily break existing cryptographic primitives; its case for acting early rests on the difficulty of predicting the risk.
Two proposed stages
- “pqai-ready” would upgrade Ethereum’s consensus layer for post-quantum resilience and give every user a path to migrate to a post-quantum account. Ethlabs’ proposed fallback is that, if existing cryptography fails earlier than expected, the network could continue operating at reduced processing capacity.
- “pqai-scaled” would support post-quantum transactions and data availability at full network capacity. The aim is to process post-quantum transactions at the scale of ordinary transactions, including through post-quantum signature aggregation and data-availability approaches.
For the proposed roadmap, Ethlabs suggested reassessing the scope of the later Hegotá hard fork. It considers Frames and related post-quantum account proposals essential, while calling for another look at FOCIL’s effect on the schedule and post-quantum compatibility. It also said developers would need to choose between adapting the current Gasper consensus protocol for post-quantum security and moving to decoupled consensus.
Ethlabs said it would withdraw its earlier push to include Quick Slots in Hegotá and seek to advance that feature in 2028 instead. Under its proposal, Glamsterdam and its scaling plans would proceed as planned. The roadmap remains subject to discussion and decisions by Ethereum’s core developers.