Shares of three quantum computing companies surged in early trading after the U.S. government finalized $100 million investments in each firm through a landmark federal initiative.
Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ: QBTS), and Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT) each secured agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office for the funding.
The capital is distributed through a broader $2 billion government initiative targeting quantum computing’s most pressing development challenges across the sector.
In exchange for the funding, the U.S. government will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each of the three companies.
The initiative is specifically designed to address quantum computing’s most persistent obstacles, including scaling, reliability, manufacturing, and supply-chain development.
RGTI stock rallied as much as 7% on the news, while QBTS shares rose over 4% in pre-market trading, outpacing the broader market’s performance.
QNT shares gained approximately 2.6%, a more modest but still notable move that similarly outperformed broader equity market benchmarks on the day.
Rigetti’s $100 million agreement covers three specific projects: miniaturized readout electronics, a new cryostat architecture to expand cryogenic capacity, and fabrication for high-connectivity chip architectures.
D-Wave received a Letter of Intent for $100 million in proposed CHIPS and Science Act funding, making it one of only seven quantum computing companies selected for federal support.
The funding supports D-Wave’s strategy of combining its established annealing systems with emerging gate-model quantum computing capabilities going forward.
The U.S. government’s decision to invest $2 billion directly into nine quantum computing companies through minority equity stakes signals a major shift toward treating quantum as a strategic commercial industry.
IBM’s $1 billion award and the launch of the Anderon quantum foundry further underscore how domestic quantum infrastructure is increasingly becoming a national priority.
Despite Tuesday’s gains, RGTI and QBTS remain down 26% and 33% year to date respectively, with government equity stakes also introducing potential dilution risk for existing shareholders.
