Both D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: QBTS) and Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ: RGTI) surged in premarket trading after securing landmark federal investment agreements.
D-Wave shares climbed 5.73% premarket while Rigetti jumped 6.78% following the announcement of definitive agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The deals were executed under the authority of the CHIPS and Science Act, marking a significant federal commitment to domestic quantum computing development.
D-Wave will receive access to up to $100 million, converting a letter of intent that was originally signed back in May into a binding agreement.
Rigetti was separately awarded $100 million allocated through the CHIPS Research and Development Office Broad Agency Announcement.
Under the terms of both agreements, the Department of Commerce will take a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each company.
Both companies have disclosed dilution to existing stockholders as one of the key risks associated with their respective deals.
Additional risks include the possibility that Commerce terminates the agreements or that either company misses project milestones and never receives the full disbursement.
D-Wave is directing its funding toward building a 100,000-qubit annealing system and a 10,000-qubit gate-model machine designed to support 100 logical qubits running more than a million operations.
Rigetti has outlined three distinct projects under its agreement, including shrinking readout electronics into a miniaturized package, expanding cryogenic capacity through a new cryostat architecture, and developing fabrication for high-connectivity chip designs.
Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni expressed confidence in the impact of the funding, saying the work “gives us the opportunity to transform the industry.”
The federal investment reflects a broader push by Washington to strengthen domestic quantum computing infrastructure and maintain a competitive edge in next-generation technology development.
