Bipartisan support is building in Congress to significantly expand federal quantum computing investments amid growing concerns about China’s technological ambitions.
The House is expected to debate defense funding legislation later this year that would increase annual military spending on quantum development by 68% to $567 million.
A parallel effort is underway in the Senate to fund the technology, which researchers believe could transform drug discovery, computing, and encryption standards.
These congressional moves align with the Trump administration, which in May announced plans to pour more than $2 billion into the quantum industry through direct federal investments.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June aimed at advancing quantum research and another mandating federal agencies protect their IT systems against quantum-based cyberattacks.
Despite recent technological breakthroughs, investors remain skeptical of the industry’s near-term commercial success, according to Philip Singerman, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Shares of pure-play quantum companies including D-Wave Quantum, Infleqtion, and Rigetti Computing have fallen sharply since the start of the year as investor enthusiasm has cooled.
IonQ (IONQ) last week closed its $1.8 billion acquisition of semiconductor foundry SkyWater Technology after federal regulators ended their review without taking action to stop it.
IonQ raised its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday, and its shares have recouped most of their losses for the year following the deal’s completion.
A mix of startups and large firms, including Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet’s (GOOG) Google, are racing to apply quantum physics to make computers exponentially more powerful than today’s machines.
China has established a $10 billion National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences, while Europe and the UK combined have committed nearly three times as much public money as the US, according to industry consultancy QBN.
“In China, you see a massive push toward quantum leadership,” said Darío Gil, under secretary for science at the Department of Energy. “That’s the one that I’m most focused on.”
The White House hosted a quantum tech summit in July featuring executives from IBM (IBM), PsiQuantum, and Infleqtion, focused on supply chains and workforce development.
Infleqtion Chief Executive Officer Matt Kinsella noted that industry access to policymakers has changed dramatically compared to just two years ago.
“When we first started doing this two years ago, we struggled to get meetings with staffers on the Hill,” Kinsella said. “Now, we’re meeting directly with senators and representatives.”
The four pure-play quantum companies slated to receive Commerce Department grants have recently doubled their total annual lobbying spending to $2.2 million, according to disclosures.
“When your concern is access — not just your own access, but your competitors’ access — you’re forced to consider and play that game,” said Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
PsiQuantum, due to receive $100 million from the Commerce Department, raised $1 billion last year from investors including 1789 Capital, the venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
D-Wave, allotted an equal sum by Commerce, was taken public in 2022 under Emil Michael, who is now a top Pentagon official.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the administration’s financial ties to the quantum sector.
