DARPA has selected 18 quantum computing companies to join Stage A of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a multi-phase program launched in July 2024 aimed at determining whether any commercial technology can deliver a fault-tolerant, utility-scale quantum computer by 2033 — significantly ahead of conventional timelines. The chosen companies will spend six months rigorously defining the technical feasibility of their approaches, after which they may advance to more intensive evaluation phases.
The initiative spans a wide range of quantum hardware modalities including superconducting, trapped ion, neutral atom, photonic, silicon spin, and novel hybrid qubit architectures. During Stage A, DARPA will assess the maturity and scalability of each proposal, based on detailed technical submissions and a roadmap for delivering transformative performance. Stage B will focus on in-depth R&D analysis, while Stage C will involve full system-level verification and validation (IV&V) by a DARPA-led team of independent U.S. quantum experts.
• QBI’s goal is to verify whether a commercially viable, utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer can be developed by 2033.
• Stage A includes a six-month technical feasibility assessment; Stages B and C will focus on long-term viability and system-level IV&V.
• Technologies span superconducting, trapped ion, neutral atom, photonic, and silicon-based qubits.
Companies selected for Stage A of QBI include:
• Alice & Bob (superconducting cat qubits)
• Headquarters: Paris, France, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
• Website: https://alice-bob.com/
• Atlantic Quantum (fluxonium qubits)
• Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
• Website: https://atlantic-quantum.com/
• Atom Computing (neutral atom arrays)
• Headquarters: Berkeley, California, USA
• Website: https://atom-computing.com/
4. Diraq (CMOS silicon spin qubits)
• Headquarters: Sydney, Australia, with operations in Palo Alto, California, and Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Website: https://diraq.com/
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (superconducting)
• Headquarters: Houston, Texas, USA
• Website: https://www.hpe.com/
• IBM (modular superconducting processors)
• Headquarters: Armonk, New York, USA
• Website: https://www.ibm.com/
7. IonQ (trapped ions)
• Headquarters: College Park, Maryland, USA
• Website: https://ionq.com/
8. Nord Quantique (bosonic error correction)
• Headquarters: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
• Website: https://nordquantique.ca/en/home
• Oxford Ionics (trapped ions)
• Headquarters: Oxford, United Kingdom
• Website: https://www.oxionics.com/
• Photonic Inc. (optically-linked silicon spin qubits)
• Headquarters: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Website: https://photonic.com/
• Quantinuum (QCCD architecture)
• Headquarters: Broomfield, Colorado, USA
• Website: https://www.quantinuum.com/
• Quantum Motion (MOS silicon spin qubits)
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Website: https://quantummotion.tech/
• Rigetti Computing (transmon qubits)
• Headquarters: Berkeley, California, USA
• Website: https://www.rigetti.com/
• Silicon Quantum Computing Pty. Ltd. (atom-based silicon qubits)
• Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
• Website: https://sqc.com.au/
• Xanadu (photonic)
• Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Website: https://www.xanadu.ai/
Microsoft and PsiQuantum, already part of DARPA’s earlier US2QC program, are advancing directly to the final phase, which shares the same IV&V objectives as QBI’s Stage C.
Joe Altepeter, QBI Program Manager at DARPA: “We selected these companies for Stage A following a review of their written abstracts and daylong oral presentations… For the chosen companies, now the real work begins. Stage A is a six-month sprint in which they’ll provide comprehensive technical details of their concepts to show that they hold water and could plausibly lead to a transformative, fault-tolerant quantum computer in under 10 years.”
