[athrowaway3z]

Is that true per se?

I was under the impression certain dedicated single-algorithm quantum computers might be much easier to build; allowing you to attack some construct but not yet do full Shor.

PS I'm not saying that's whats happening. Just trying to nail down the scope of what is possible (not plausible).

[mswphd]

you're talking about what is known as NISQ quantum computers, namely quantum computers before they can do full error correction. There are no claimed cryptanalytic benefits for NISQ machines. The main claims I've seen are for quantum chemistry simulation, but even those I've heard are not too credible.

Even dedicated single-algorithm quantum computers aren't magic. Given a dedicated single-algorithm quantum computer for attacking ML-KEM, the best current cost estimate we have for it is undoubtedly slower than the classical attack. Attacking ML-KEM quantumly is thought to take exponential (quantum) time. this is (clearly) not the case for ECC.