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Off the Wire Press Releases BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 8, 2026 — Rigetti Computing, Inc. today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Rigetti & Co, LLC, has signed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for an award of $100 million in funding to accelerate superconducting quantum computing R&D. The funding is allocated under the CHIPS Research and Development Office Broad Agency Announcement pursuant to the CHIPS Act. Under this definitive agreement, Rigetti will pursue three R&D projects that aim to address major technical bottlenecks in scaling superconducting quantum computing and will accelerate the Company’s roadmap towards utility-scale quantum computing: - Compressing readout electronics into an integrated, miniaturized package. - Expanding cryogenic capacity by orders of magnitude using a new cryostat architecture. - Developing the fabrication capabilities for high-connectivity chip architectures. Quantum computing has tremendous promise to dramatically transform critical areas including cryptography, chemistry, materials science, mathematical optimization, and AI/machine learning. Governments worldwide are investing in this emerging technology given the national security and economic implications of quantum advantage. “We are proud to be selected by the U.S. government to accelerate R&D and progress against our roadmap to deliver commercially viable quantum computing capabilities,” says Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, Rigetti CEO. “Solving crucial challenges in scaling gives us the opportunity to transform the industry by putting large-scale quantum computers in the hands of America’s quantum computing researchers faster. Shortening the time to build quantum systems at scale and reducing their cost will also allow for broader adoption, which will strengthen our domestic quantum computing ecosystem.” The Department will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in Rigetti as a condition for receiving the funds to enhance the return for the U.S. taxpayer. About Rigetti Rigetti is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. Rigetti quantum computers are based on superconducting qubits, which are widely believed to be the leading qubit modality given their maturity, clear path to scaling, and fast gate speeds. Rigetti quantum computing systems achieve gate speeds of 50-70 nanoseconds, which is about 10,000 times faster than trapped-ion systems and 100 times faster than neutral-atom systems. Rigetti sells on-premises 9-qubit to 108-qubit quantum computing systems, which support national laboratories and quantum computing centers. Rigetti’s Cepheus 36-qubit to 108-qubit systems are based on the Company’s proprietary chiplet-based technology and include the Company’s control electronics. Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU supports a broader R&D community with a high-performance, on-premises QPU designed to plug into a customer’s existing cryogenic and control systems. The Company operates quantum computers over the cloud through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, enabling global enterprise, government, and research clients to pursue R&D. The Company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides high-performance integration with public and private clouds for practical quantum computing. Rigetti developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. Leveraging this proprietary technology, Rigetti deployed the industry’s largest multi-chip quantum computer in 2026 with Cepheus-1-108Q, based on twelve 9-qubit chiplets tiled together. The Company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Learn more at https://www.rigetti.com. Source: Rigetti
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