U.S. Government Awards $100 Million Grants to D‑Wave and Rigetti for Quantum Computing R&D

The U.S. government has finalized $100 million CHIPS Act awards to both QBTS and RGTI, converting letters of intent signed on May 21 into definitive agreements. Today's news is the finalization, not the first disclosure of the figures, which matters for anyone reading the announcement as new money.

Both deals are structured the same way in the respect that matters most: the government takes a minority, non-controlling equity stake in exchange for the award. D-Wave's stake comes via a $100 million common stock issuance, and Rigetti's is structured equivalently. Coverage that mentions the equity component for only one of the two makes the deals look asymmetric when the structure is the same.

The milestones differ. D-Wave's award ties to two qubit-system milestones, while Rigetti's is tied to three specified R&D projects. Structurally similar is not the same as identical, and the difference in milestone design is where execution risk actually sits for each company.

For two companies of this size, $100 million is transformative relative to their own balance sheets and immaterial relative to federal R&D spending, which is roughly the correct way to hold it. Government equity participation is the more consequential precedent: it gives Washington a direct stake in domestic quantum capability and sets a template other awards may follow. What to watch: the milestone schedules as disclosed in filings, whether either company draws further tranches, and whether dilution from the equity issuance is quantified in the next reporting period.

Related Stocks

• QBTS
• RGTI