Trump Administration Seeks Investment for Quantum Computers

The United States government, under the administration of Donald Trump, is in discussions with several quantum computer companies to acquire equity in exchange for federal funding. According to The Wall Street Journal, this information is based on knowledgeable sources regarding the matter.

Companies such as IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum are discussing the terms under which the government would become a shareholder as part of contracts. It has been noted that the discussions involve a minimum allocation of $10 million in funding from Washington to each of them.

Other companies, including Quantum Computing and Atom Computing, are also said to be considering similar arrangements. However, Reuters has not been able to immediately verify this report.

Earlier this year, Trump announced that the government would convert grants in Intel into equity, thereby acquiring a 10% stake; this event has been recorded as one of the extraordinary interventions by the White House in American companies.

Other agreements include the Pentagon becoming the largest shareholder in a small mining company called MP Materials to increase the production of rare earth magnets. Additionally, in an agreement allowing Japan's Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel, a "golden share" has been included, providing some veto rights.

IonQ declined to comment. Similarly, the White House, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, Atom Computing, and Quantum Computing did not respond immediately to Reuters' request for comments.

According to the report, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Paul Dabbar is conducting financing discussions with companies in the sector; he has previously served as an executive in the quantum computing field.

In February, Microsoft introduced a new chip that demonstrates quantum computers could be possible “not in decades, but in years.” Together with Google and IBM, this indicated that a fundamental change in computer technology is much closer than previously thought.