D-Wave Quantum announced that it signed a Letter of Intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for $100 million in proposed funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, a move designed to accelerate the company’s superconducting annealing and gate-model quantum computing development efforts.
The proposed funding would support the expansion and scaling of D-Wave’s quantum systems, including work at its upcoming research and development facility in Boca Raton, Florida, along with existing R&D centers in New Haven, Connecticut and Burnaby, British Columbia. As part of the arrangement, D-Wave would issue $100 million in common stock to the Department of Commerce upon execution of final award documents.
The CHIPS and Science Act initiative is focused on strengthening domestic technology supply chains and reinforcing U.S. leadership in critical next-generation technologies. D-Wave said the investment would help accelerate fabrication processes and expand the commercialization of quantum applications for industries including optimization, materials simulation, blockchain, artificial intelligence, defense, energy systems, and biopharmaceutical discovery.
D-Wave said the funding would support development of a 100,000-qubit annealing quantum computer and a 10,000-qubit gate-model quantum system. The company noted that its annealing systems are already commercially available, while the gate-model platform is expected to achieve commercial viability with 10,000 physical qubits, enabling 100 logical qubits.
The company believes the larger-scale annealing and gate-model systems will deliver stronger performance for complex computational workloads while enabling broader development opportunities for quantum chemistry and quantum AI applications.
The proposed award remains subject to the execution of definitive award agreements between D-Wave and the Department of Commerce.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe that the U.S. government’s strategic investment in D-Wave would advance the country’s global leadership position in quantum computing. The award would accelerate D-Wave’s ability to scale quantum innovation domestically, expedite key fabrication processes, and deliver real-world quantum applications to our global customers today. We see this as a transformative moment for not just D-Wave, but also for quantum computing and the United States.”
Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO, D-Wave Quantum
“With today’s CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation. These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities.”
Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce
“The Department of Commerce’s incentives strengthen and accelerate U.S. quantum leadership and technological resilience. Quantum computing has significant implications for national defense, advanced materials and biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling and energy systems.”
Bill Frauenhofer, Executive Director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation
