From the Wall Street Journal, October 22, 9pmEDT:
Discussions signal Washington’s wider involvement in key parts of the economy
Several quantum-computing companies are in talks to give the Commerce Department equity stakes in exchange for federal funding, a signal that the Trump administration is expanding its interventions in what it sees as critical segments of the economy.
Companies including IonQ, Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum are discussing the government becoming a shareholder as part of agreements to get funding earmarked for promising technology companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Other companies such as Quantum Computing Inc. and Atom Computing are considering similar arrangements.
The companies are discussing minimum funding awards from Washington of $10 million each, some of the people said. Other technology companies are also expected to vie for the funding.
The discussions are the latest example of administration moves to become a shareholder in some companies. President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have said the government should share in a company’s upside since taxpayer money provides financial support and a stamp of approval.
In August, the government agreed to take a nearly 10% stake in chip company Intel in exchange for converting almost $9 billion in previously awarded grants to equity. The arrangement would make the government Intel’s largest shareholder and followed a similar deal with one of the few U.S. producers of rare-earth materials. The Energy Department received warrants giving it the right to buy shares of a lithium startup at a set price in exchange for a government loan.
The funding for quantum companies would be one of the first significant signs of support for the sector from Washington. Quantum computers are seen as a critical next-generation technology because they can quickly perform computations that would take today’s computers eons. That sort of advance could make it easier to find new drugs, materials and chemicals while making every segment of the economy more efficient, experts say.
Shares of companies in the space have surged this year, though they have fallen recently.
Companies from International Business Machines to Microsoft are investing in quantum computing, as is China. Google said on Wednesday that it showed a quantum computer can run 13,000 times faster than classic supercomputers and potentially speed drug discovery and materials science.Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar, a former quantum-computing executive and Energy Department official, is leading the funding discussions with companies in the industry, the people said. Bohr Quantum Technology, the company Dabbar co-founded and led as chief executive for four years, isn’t a candidate to receive funding, a Commerce Department official said....
....MUCH MORE
Earlier today - "Google claims ‘quantum advantage’ again — but researchers are sceptical" (GOOG)
