Rigetti Secures Up to $100 Million CHIPS Funding, Giving Commerce an Equity Stake
Updated
Updated · Pulse 2.0 · May 24
Rigetti Secures Up to $100 Million CHIPS Funding, Giving Commerce an Equity Stake
8 articles · Updated · Pulse 2.0 · May 24
Rigetti signed a letter of intent for up to $100 million from the U.S. Commerce Department over three years to speed superconducting quantum-computing R&D.
The CHIPS Act-backed award is aimed at solving scaling bottlenecks in superconducting systems, and Commerce would receive an equity stake tied to the amount ultimately disbursed.
Rigetti says its superconducting qubits deliver 50-70 nanosecond gate speeds—about 1,000 times faster than trapped-ion and neutral-atom approaches—and are suited to utility-scale systems.
The company already sells on-premises machines from 9 to 108 qubits and offers cloud access; earlier in 2026 it deployed its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q, which uses 12 tiled 9-qubit chiplets.
The award underscores Washington's push to build domestic quantum capacity under the CHIPS program, alongside national-security and industrial-policy goals.
Rigetti's quantum computers face huge scaling hurdles. Can a $100 million cash injection overcome the fundamental limits of its technology?
With rivals showing strong commercial traction, is the government's $100M bet on Rigetti's quantum tech a strategic move or a risky gamble?
CHIPS Act Awards $2B to Quantum Firms: Rigetti Partnership Signals New Era of Public-Private Equity
Overview
The U.S. Department of Commerce has taken a major step to boost quantum technology by signing nine Letters of Intent to allocate over $2 billion in CHIPS Act incentives, including up to $100 million for Rigetti Computing. Uniquely, the government is taking an equity stake in Rigetti, showing a deeper commitment to both the company and the quantum sector. This funding aims to speed up the development of large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, directly supporting Rigetti’s goal of building systems with over 1,000 qubits. The partnership highlights a new public-private model and signals strong national support for quantum innovation.