U.S. awards $2 billion to quantum firms, taking equity as stocks surge

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued letters of intent for $2.013 billion in CHIPS Act incentives. Nine quantum computing companies will receive the funding. The federal government will take minority, non-controlling equity stakes in each firm to secure domestic supply chains.

IBM will receive $1 billion to establish a standalone quantum chip foundry called Anderon in New York. GlobalFoundries is slated for a $375 million award. D-Wave, Rigetti, and Infleqtion will each receive up to $100 million.

Publicly traded quantum stocks rose significantly following the announcement. IBM shares climbed over 11%. GlobalFoundries stock jumped 14.9%. Smaller pure-play firms registered gains of up to 42%.