Rigetti Computing announced that it has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for an award of up to $100 million over three years to accelerate superconducting quantum computing research and development projects.
The funding is being allocated under the CHIPS Research and Development Office Broad Agency Announcement pursuant to the CHIPS Act, which is designed to strengthen U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, including quantum computing. Under the terms of the letter of intent, the Department of Commerce would receive an equity stake in Rigetti consistent with the total amount of funding provided.
Rigetti said the investment would support R&D projects aimed at addressing major technical challenges in scaling and advancing superconducting quantum computing systems. The company is focused on developing utility-scale quantum computing systems using superconducting qubits, which are widely viewed as one of the leading qubit modalities because of their maturity, scalability potential, and fast gate speeds.
The company noted that its quantum systems achieve gate speeds of 50 to 70 nanoseconds, which it says are approximately 1,000 times faster than alternative approaches such as trapped-ion and neutral-atom systems.
Rigetti currently sells on-premises quantum computing systems ranging from 9 qubits to 108 qubits for use by national laboratories and quantum computing centers. Its Cepheus systems are built using the company’s proprietary chiplet-based architecture and integrated control electronics, while its Novera QPU is designed for broader research and development use cases.
The company also operates quantum computers through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform, enabling enterprise, government, and research customers to access quantum computing resources through the cloud.
Rigetti highlighted that it deployed the industry’s largest multi-chip quantum computer earlier in 2026 with its Cepheus-1-108Q system, which uses twelve 9-qubit chiplets tiled together. The company manufactures its chips internally at Fab-1, which it describes as the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility.
KEY QUOTES:
“Quantum computing will have far reaching impacts on our nation’s national security, economic interests, and overall prosperity. We are honored that the U.S. government is seeking to partner with Rigetti to accelerate the pace of quantum computing commercialization and to bolster U.S. leadership in this revolutionary field. This investment will allow us to tackle key scaling bottlenecks more rapidly and get us closer to utility-scale quantum computing.”
Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, CEO, Rigetti Computing
“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, U.S. 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
