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The US Department of Commerce has announced its intentions to provide just over $2 billion in CHIPS and Science Act grants to nine quantum computing companies, according to The Wall Street Journal, in exchange for equity.
The biggest winner of the proposal is IBM, which will receive a $1 billion "incentive" to develop quantum computing chips. IBM has said that it will also be investing $1 billion of its own funds into quantum semiconductor foundry Anderon, in order to set up a specialized quantum chip manufacturing facility.
GlobalFoundries is set to receive $375 million in funding, with a 1% stake in the company received by the government in return, while Diraq, a quantum computing startup, is set to receive $38 million.
Other quantum computing firms, including D-Wave, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion, are expected to be awarded $100 million each. In the case of D-Wave, the company has announced that it would issue the Department of Commerce with $100 million shares of its common stock once the deal was finalised.
The company's CEO, Dr. Alan Baratz, said: "We believe that the US government’s strategic investment in D-Wave would advance the country’s global leadership position in quantum computing."
Baratz continued: "We see this as a transformative moment for not just D-Wave, but also for quantum computing and the United States."
While the deals are yet to be completed, it's not difficult to see why a major government push into quantum computing (in exchange for equity) makes a lot of sense as part of the current administration's tech-forward approach. Not only are the science and research possibilities of the super-powered tech intriguing, but the financial potential looks to be immense.
Quantum computing companies have been subject to a wave of investor interest this year, as the tech is seen to be on the cusp of developing into practical solutions with the correct amount of funding.
And in a world where computing power is now one of the most desirable resources, getting a foot on the quantum ladder looks like a prudent move. Speaking to the WSJ earlier this year about the investor interest, Wasiq Bokhari, the CEO of quantum computing company Pasqal, said: "People are realizing that quantum computing is only a few years behind AI."
"We feel like it is a good time for us to be able to go out and tell our story."
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