Diraq Signs $38 Million Letter of Intent With U.S. Department of Commerce for Quantum Processors

Diraq said it signed a Letter of Intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $38 million connected to the CHIPS Research and Development Office. The proposed funding would support work tied to producing and scaling fault-tolerant silicon quantum computing processors.

The company linked the effort to U.S. infrastructure and production capabilities for silicon-based quantum processors and said it would leverage Diraq’s technologies to manufacture and deploy those processors. Diraq also referenced prior U.S. government funding for silicon quantum research through entities including the U.S. Army Research Office and DARPA.

Diraq described its approach as silicon-based quantum processors that can contain millions of qubits on a single chip and are fabricated with existing semiconductor manufacturing processes. It said the investment would accelerate a roadmap for an end-to-end quantum supply chain that includes cryostats, chips, and packaging with fully American production. The company also said its system architecture is designed for industrial specifications that include sub-dollar pricing at less than $1 per physical qubit and compact, rack-deployable units compatible with existing data center environments.

Diraq said the CHIPS-linked award would support production and scaling of fault-tolerant silicon quantum computing processors via the U.S. semiconductor industry. GlobalFoundries said it partnered with Diraq to advance silicon-based quantum processors, citing cryo-CMOS quantum capabilities and technology portfolio for quantum systems at scale within a domestic ecosystem. The company said it has U.S. offices and labs in Palo Alto and Chicago, and that it will open a new operation in Los Angeles.

“The Department of Commerce’s incentives strengthen and accelerate U.S. quantum leadership and technological resilience,” said Bill Frauenhofer, Executive Director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation. “The U.S. Government has played an important role for over 25 years in funding silicon quantum research through entities such as the U.S. Army Research Office and more recently DARPA. The foundational advancements that came from this work underpin Diraq’s technology today,” said Andrew Dzurak, Diraq Founder and CEO. “This LOI is a powerful signal that the U.S. government recognizes silicon-based quantum processors as a viable architecture to securing domestic computing leadership,” said Dr. William Jeffrey, Chairman of the Board for Diraq and former Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “We’re proud to partner with Diraq to advance silicon-based quantum processors, leveraging our cryo-CMOS quantum capabilities and broad technology portfolio under one roof to enable quantum systems at scale within a trusted domestic ecosystem,” said Gregg Bartlett, Chief Technology Officer at GlobalFoundries.

The company framed the LOI as support for production and scaling efforts and for its roadmap toward an end-to-end quantum supply chain, including cryostats, chips, and packaging.