D-Wave Quantum has finalized a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce providing access to up to $100 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to accelerate development of its annealing and gate-model quantum computing technologies.
The agreement follows a previously announced Letter of Intent between D-Wave and the Department of Commerce. In May, the company disclosed the proposed $100 million award and said the funding would support development and scaling of its superconducting quantum computing platforms.
D-Wave plans to use the funding to accelerate research and development for its next generation of quantum systems, including a planned 100,000-qubit annealing quantum computer and a 10,000-qubit gate-model system.
The 100,000-qubit annealing platform is being developed to deliver increased performance for computationally intensive applications spanning optimization, materials simulation, blockchain and artificial intelligence.
D-Wave’s gate-model roadmap targets a system containing 10,000 physical qubits capable of enabling 100 logical qubits.
The company is designing that platform to successfully perform more than one million operations, potentially supporting applications such as quantum chemistry and quantum AI.
The investment will support D-Wave’s work across both major branches of its technology portfolio.
D-Wave already commercially offers annealing quantum computing systems, while it is developing gate-model technology as another platform for addressing computational problems that may benefit from quantum computing.
The funding is also intended to support domestic quantum computing capacity and the underlying supply chain required to manufacture and commercialize advanced quantum systems.
D-Wave said the agreement aligns with broader CHIPS and Science Act objectives around strengthening U.S. capabilities in strategically important technologies.
As a condition of receiving the funding, the U.S. Department of Commerce will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in D-Wave.
The equity component is structured to give the U.S. government potential participation in the company’s future value while leaving operational control with D-Wave.
The definitive agreement represents the next stage of the funding process following the Letter of Intent announced in May.
At that time, D-Wave said the proposed funding would support the development and scaling of its annealing and gate-model systems and help accelerate advanced superconducting quantum computing development.
D-Wave describes itself as the only quantum computing company currently providing both annealing and gate-model systems, software and services.
Its commercial technology can be accessed through on-premises systems and its Leap quantum cloud service, which the company says provides 99.9% availability and uptime.
More than 100 organizations across commercial, government and research markets use D-Wave technology to address computational challenges.
The new federal funding provides D-Wave with additional resources to scale its hardware roadmap while advancing both its established annealing platform and developing gate-model architecture.
KEY QUOTE:
“We’re grateful to the U.S. government for this award to D-Wave and for the leadership it is demonstrating in advancing quantum innovation. The Administration has made clear that U.S. quantum leadership will require not only breakthrough research, but also the ability to scale, commercialize and manufacture these technologies. This award will help fulfill that mission by expanding domestic quantum capabilities, strengthening the underlying supply chain and bringing increasingly powerful quantum systems to market.”
Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave
