D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) shares rose 4.5% on Tuesday after the quantum computing company announced a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act.
The funding is intended to support research and development across D-Wave’s annealing and gate-model quantum computing technologies as the company works to increase the scale and capabilities of its systems.
The agreement follows a previously announced Letter of Intent between D-Wave and the Department of Commerce.
Funding Targets Larger Quantum Computing Systems
Under the programme, D-Wave is targeting the development of a 100,000-qubit annealing quantum computing system.
The company is also working toward a 10,000-qubit gate-model system designed to support 100 logical qubits capable of performing more than one million operations.
The funding is expected to support the research and development required to pursue these technical objectives, although achievement of the stated targets will depend on the company’s development progress.
U.S. Government to Receive Minority Stake
As a condition of the funding agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce will receive a minority, non-controlling equity interest in D-Wave.
CEO Dr. Alan Baratz said: “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.”
The agreement reflects growing U.S. government investment in domestic quantum computing capabilities and the commercialisation of advanced computing technologies.
Palo Alto-based D-Wave develops both annealing and gate-model quantum computing platforms. The new funding provides additional resources for its efforts to advance both approaches while expanding the scale of its quantum systems.
D-Wave Quantum stock price
