By Mark LaPedus
In a major boost for the quantum computing industry in the United States, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the signing of nine letters of intent to provide $2.013 billion in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act.
As part of the announcement, the Department of Commerce is proposing to provide incentives for two new and separate quantum device foundries to help establish and accelerate foundational domestic manufacturing capacity for the quantum computing sector.
The two new and separate quantum device foundries are being led by GlobalFoundries and IBM. In fact, IBM has formed a new quantum device foundry company.
In addition, seven U.S.-based quantum computing companies will also receive funding from the U.S. government. In return, the U.S. government will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each company as a condition for receiving the funds to enhance the return for the U.S. taxpayer.
Quantum computing is an important technology. Quantum computers are next-generation systems that can outperform today’s computers. But in general, quantum computing is still in the early stages of development and requires new breakthroughs.
The proposed funding by the U.S. government is designed to strengthen America’s position in quantum computing. The goal is to accelerate the development of utility scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Here’s are the new and proposed funding awards by the Department of Commerce:
*GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million in planned funding to establish a secure, domestic quantum foundry for leading architectures and multiple modalities (superconducting, trapped ion, photonic, topological, and silicon spin) used in large-scale quantum computers.
*IBM will receive $1 billion in planned funding to establish a new quantum foundry subsidiary for quantum-grade superconducting wafers by building on its U.S. leadership in superconducting quantum wafer fabrication technology.
*Atom Computing, Diraq, D-Wave, Infleqtion, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum and Rigetti will separately obtained funding.
I have described the awards for each company below.
What is quantum computing?
Before describing the funding awards, let’s first answer some pressing questions: What is quantum computing? And why do we need it?
Today, AI is the latest craze in the market. The latest AI algorithms are being processed using today’s computers. These systems incorporate AI chips from AMD, Nvidia and others.
At the same time, a growing number of companies are racing each other to develop quantum computers. Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft and many other companies are developing practical and useful quantum computers.
In the works for years, quantum computers are different than today’s computers. A traditional computer uses binary digits, or bits, to store and process data. These bits are represented as either a “0” or “1”.
In contrast, quantum computers use qubits to encode and process data. A qubit can represent a “0” or “1” or a superposition of both states simultaneously. Thus, in theory, quantum computers can outperform a classical computer.
But quantum computers are still in the development stages. To date, companies have developed quantum computers with anywhere from a few qubits to just over 1,000 qubits in a single system. At best, these systems are used for rudimentary R&D work. Some systems are just beginning to become more useful and solve some major problems.
To make a practical quantum computer, a system will likely need millions of qubits in a single unit. A useful quantum computer promises to make major breakthroughs in drug discovery, advanced materials, energy and other fields. These systems can also be used to crack secure codes. All told, it could take years before companies develop practical fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Nonetheless, today’s quantum computer companies are based in China, the European Union (EU), Japan, the U.S. and other nations. It’s imperative for each country to gain a leadership position in quantum computing. In fact, the governments in China, EU, India, Japan and the U.S. are separately funding various quantum computing programs.
For example, the U.S. government this week announced a new round of funding for U.S.-based quantum computing companies. The U.S. government is also funding other quantum computing programs, including one backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The structure of the Department of Commerce’s new and proposed incentives is intended to provide capital toward an initial portfolio of nine companies. These companies will address the most consequential, unresolved engineering problems in multiple quantum modalities. Here are the companies that received new funding:
GF
GlobalFoundries (GF), a U.S.-based foundry vendor, has launched Quantum Technology Solutions, a new quantum business unit to scale the manufacturing capabilities for quantum computing vendors.
The U.S. Department of Commerce and GF have entered into a letter of intent (LOI) to award GF $375 million to accelerate the build-out of Quantum Technology Solutions. In return, the U.S. Department of Commerce will receive a strategic equity investment in GF, representing approximately 1% ownership.
GF is no stranger to the quantum computing business. For years, the foundry vendor has been making various quantum devices for a number of vendors. GF is developing the manufacturing platforms to build qubits across multiple modalities — including superconducting, trapped ion, photonic, topological and spin — along with the cryogenic and superconducting heterogeneous interconnect platform that integrates these components into utility-scale quantum systems.
Quantum Technology Solutions will be able to leverage GF’s U.S. manufacturing capabilities, with flexibility across its U.S. footprint, to support the foundational capabilities the quantum industry needs to scale.
IBM
Meanwhile, for years, U.S.-based IBM has been developing and shipping quantum computers for various applications. To date, IBM has deployed over 90 quantum systems to various customers, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, universities and government agencies.
This week, IBM and the U.S. Department of Commerce signed an LOI to build a separate U.S.-based quantum chip foundry. The CHIPS incentive from the government will support the research and development efforts of a new IBM company—Anderon. Anderon is positioned as a U.S.-based pure-play quantum foundry company.
In addition to the $1 billion in CHIPS incentives, IBM will contribute $1 billion of cash into Anderon. This investment includes intellectual property, assets, and a skilled workforce, with additional investors expected as Anderon grows.
Based in Albany, N.Y. as a standalone company, Anderon will operate as a 300mm quantum wafer foundry. Anderon’s 300mm wafer processes will support superconducting wiring, through-silicon vias, bumps, in-line wafer testing and characterization.
As a pure-play quantum foundry, Anderon plans to tap IBM’s strength in building and deploying quantum computers to offer wafer fabrication services for multiple quantum technology vendors across the world. Anderon will first support wafer fabrication for superconducting qubit and supporting electronics wafers, with the goal to expand into other quantum modalities.
Other award winners
Seven quantum computing companies also received funding. The companies listed below receiving CHIPS incentives will address multiple modalities, including neutral atom, silicon-spin, superconducting, photonic and trapped ion.
These companies will accelerate R&D for the most consequential unresolved engineering problems, including device reproducibility, optical complexity, error rates, cryogenic systems integration, control hardware, ultra-fast readout electronics, photonic loss and interconnects.
Here are those vendors:
*Atom Computing will receive $100 million in planned funding to address key technical and manufacturing challenges for neutral-atom quantum computing, including hardware development and systems integration needed to manipulate, control, and address tens of thousands of qubits, and validate their performance.
*Diraq will receive up to $38 million in planned funding to develop and scale quantum logic units and accelerate critical manufacturing and integration capabilities for silicon spin quantum computing technologies, including novel designs for large-scale and reliable qubit arrays.
*D-Wave will receive $100 million in planned funding for critical advancements in annealing and gate-model superconducting quantum computing systems, including qubit counts, error rates, and coherence through advanced dielectric material optimization, interface control, and high-density advanced packaging.
*Infleqtion will receive $100 million in planned funding to develop the underlying engineering systems and integration requirements for large-scale neutral-atom-based quantum computers and architectures, including high-powered optical systems, novel readout and error correction systems.
*PsiQuantum will receive $100 million in planned funding to address key photonic quantum computing technical challenges for matured and high-performance electro-optic materials, high-temperature single-photon detectors, and ultra-low-loss photonic packaging.
*Quantinuum will receive $100 million in planned funding to address critical technology and manufacturing bottlenecks for scaling of fault-tolerant trapped-ion-based quantum computers, such as low-loss integrated photonics, and reliable optical components at trapped-ion critical wavelengths.
*Rigetti will receive up to $100 million in planned funding to address key technical challenges to develop and scale next generation superconducting quantum computing technologies and architectures, such as miniaturizing and integrating novel readout electronics and next generation cryostat architectures.