D-Wave Quantum announced it has signed a merger agreement to acquire Quantum Circuits, a developer of error-corrected superconducting gate-model quantum computing systems, in a transaction valued at $550 million.
D-Wave said the purchase price will consist of $300 million in D-Wave common stock and $250 million in cash. The company said the combination is intended to strengthen its dual-platform strategy by pairing its commercial annealing quantum systems with Quantum Circuits’ gate-model technology, expanding the range of use cases it can address across the broader quantum computing market.
The companies said the deal will combine D-Wave’s superconducting processor control expertise and quantum cloud platform with Quantum Circuits’ dual-rail approach to error-corrected qubits, which incorporates built-in error detection and is designed to reduce the physical resources required to build logical qubits. D-Wave said this is expected to accelerate its gate-model product roadmap, with an initial dual-rail system planned to be generally available in 2026.
As part of the acquisition, Quantum Circuits’ team, including Yale University professor Dr. Rob Schoelkopf, is expected to expand D-Wave’s capabilities through a research and development center in New Haven, Connecticut. D-Wave characterized Schoelkopf as a key innovator in superconducting qubits, including transmon and dual-rail technologies.
Support: Centerview Partners is serving as D-Wave’s exclusive financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as legal counsel, the company said.
KEY QUOTES:
“With this acquisition, we believe that D-Wave has unequivocally cemented its position as the world’s most advanced and established leader in superconducting quantum computing. Together with Quantum Circuits, we expect that D-Wave will leapfrog the industry, bringing gate-model products and services to market in 2026 and rapidly progressing our dual-platform strategy of delivering annealing and gate-model systems to address customers’ full breadth of computational problems. It’s a pivotal milestone and one that we believe will secure D-Wave’s long-term value proposition as quantum computing development and adoption accelerates.”
Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO, D-Wave
“Fault-tolerant error-corrected quantum computing is within our reach, and this acquisition is expected to significantly speed up the timeline. We believe that no other company has a more powerful qubit with built-in error detection. Combining our dual-rail gate-model processor with D-Wave’s scalable control and readout is expected to enable a nearer-term path to large-scale error-corrected gate-model systems. With aggressive roadmaps for both annealing and gate-model technology and a common track record of technology delivery, Quantum Circuits and D-Wave together are in a unique position to address the full spectrum of quantum computing technology.”
Dr. Rob Schoelkopf, Chief Scientist and Co-Founder, Quantum Circuits
“I am incredibly proud of the Quantum Circuits team and the years of innovation that led to our breakthrough in hardware-integrated error correction. By joining forces with D-Wave, we are accelerating the roadmap to commercially viable gate-model quantum computers. Our ‘correct-first’ philosophy is the most viable path to scaling quantum for the enterprise, and the power of this partnership ensures we have the global reach to accelerate delivery of this value to customers worldwide.”
Ray Smets, CEO, Quantum Circuits
