U.S. to award quantum-computing firms $2 billion and take equity stakes - WSJ

—————— Article with URL markers: The U.S. government is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantum-computing firms, with the Commerce Department announcing that include equity stakes in each recipient company. This initiative is part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy to accelerate the development of quantum computing, critical for economic and national security. IBM, a leading player in the industry, will receive $1 billion of the total funding and has pledged additional $1 billion in private investment to establish the nation’s first quantum chip manufacturing facility.

Other recipients include chipmaker GlobalFoundries, which will receive $375 million, and publicly traded firms such as D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion, which are expected to receive $100 million each. The funding is sourced from the 2022 Chips and Science Act and is intended to support early-stage technology projects. The government’s equity stakes, which will be minority investments, are part of a broader trend of federal support for domestic technology supply chains.

The announcement has already driven significant premarket gains for the affected companies, with shares of IBM and GlobalFoundries rising by approximately 7% and smaller firms seeing increases of 15% or more. While some analysts have questioned the risk profile of government equity investments in emerging technologies, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has emphasized that deals ensure long-term benefits for taxpayers. The administration is also reportedly working on an executive order to further support the quantum computing sector. ——————