Rigetti Wins Up to $100 Million CHIPS Funding as Shares Jump 6%
Updated
Updated · tikr.com · Jun 22
Rigetti Wins Up to $100 Million CHIPS Funding as Shares Jump 6%
3 articles · Updated · tikr.com · Jun 22
Summary
The Commerce Department will invest up to $100 million in Rigetti through the CHIPS Act, making the quantum company one of nine businesses sharing a $2 billion federal commitment over three years.
The money is milestone-based rather than a simple grant, with Rigetti required to hit R&D targets to unlock funding and the government receiving an equity stake in return.
For Rigetti, the award supports an expensive push from 108 qubits toward 1,000 and could reduce reliance on dilutive capital raises despite the company already holding $569 million in cash and no debt.
Recent operating progress helped underpin the announcement: Rigetti launched its 108-qubit Cepheus-1 system on major cloud platforms, posted 99.1% two-qubit gate fidelity, and reported Q1 2026 revenue of $4.4 million, up nearly 200% year over year.
The funding gives federal backing to Rigetti's superconducting quantum approach, but the company remains pre-commercial, with small revenue, ongoing losses and management still estimating quantum advantage is about three years away.