Rigetti Secures $100 Million in CHIPS Funding to Advance Superconducting Quantum Computing R&D

en.Wedoany.com Reported - U.S. quantum computing company Rigetti Computing announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Rigetti & Co, has signed a final agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce to receive $100 million in funding to advance superconducting quantum computing R&D. The funding comes from the CHIPS Research and Development Office's Broad Agency Announcement program under the framework of the CHIPS and Science Act. Rigetti will carry out three R&D projects targeting key technical bottlenecks in the scaling of quantum computing.

Under the final agreement, Rigetti's three R&D tasks focus respectively on miniaturizing readout electronics for quantum systems, developing new cryogenic system architectures, and manufacturing high-connectivity quantum chips. The first project will compress existing readout electronic systems into integrated, miniaturized modules; the second will develop a new cryostat architecture to substantially expand the quantum hardware capacity that can be supported in ultra-low-temperature environments; and the third will enhance the manufacturing capability of high-connectivity chip architectures.

All three technologies directly address engineering challenges faced in scaling superconducting quantum computers. As the number of qubits increases, the size of conventional control and readout electronics, the carrying capacity of cryogenic systems, and the complexity of chip interconnects all rise rapidly. Rigetti's funding will focus on these underlying hardware areas to support the subsequent development of larger-scale quantum processors and complete systems.

The U.S. Department of Commerce will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in Rigetti under this funding arrangement. Rigetti previously signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce on May 21, with proposed funding of up to $100 million over approximately three years; the final agreement signed in September marks the transition of this government support from a non-binding intent stage to a formal agreement stage.

Rigetti has now established a complete technology system spanning quantum chip manufacturing, control electronics, and full-system and cloud services. The company operates the Fab-1 quantum device manufacturing facility in Fremont, United States, and sells on-premises systems ranging from 9 qubits to 108 qubits. The Cepheus-1-108Q, launched in 2026, uses 12 9-qubit chiplets stitched together and is the company's largest multi-chip quantum computing system to date.

Rigetti disclosed in its second-quarter report that its Cepheus-1-108Q system has achieved a median single-qubit gate fidelity of approximately 99.9% and a median two-qubit gate fidelity of approximately 99.1%, while the company continues to advance its roadmap toward a future system of approximately 1,000 qubits. This $100 million in R&D funding will focus on addressing engineering areas such as chip scaling, cryogenic infrastructure, and readout systems, providing the hardware foundation for subsequent increases in quantum processor scale.