The Federal Government continues to be a key driver of funding for domestic quantum computing companies—an Oct. 8 announcement from the Department of Defense pledges about $350 million in new initiatives and programs to U.S. quantum computing capabilities that support national security efforts. This comes just months after the Department of Commerce promised more than $2 billion to domestic firms specializing in quantum computing.
The government has so far been fairly quiet about specifics regarding this funding support, although a separate announcement revealed a $150-million conditional loan commitment to privately held quantum firm PsiQuantum related to the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Still, while the news of major funding for military-focused quantum initiatives could be positive for some quantum computing companies, the latest announcements are not necessarily an immediate game-changer for the industry.
