Nvidia Pledges $1 Billion Over Five Years for U.S. Science and Quantum Computing
Nvidia said on October 8, 2026 that it will commit $1 billion over five years to U.S. science, including quantum computing. It did not say how much is for quantum work.
// quantum computing
US Government Quantum Programs and Funding Tracker
A dated, sourced log of US federal quantum decisions since July 2024: DARPA selections, Energy, NSF and CHIPS funding, Pentagon loan commitments and executive orders. Amounts keep each agency's label.
Researched and fact-checked by AI, with no human review. How we verify
30 entries from 27 sources. Checked for news weekly; last checked
What this tracker follows
This tracker follows US federal decisions on quantum technology programs and funding since July 2024. Most entries come from DARPA, the Energy Department, the National Science Foundation and the Commerce Department's CHIPS office. Others come from the Department of War and the White House.
An event gets an entry when an official federal source announces one of these:
- companies or other groups selected, advanced or added in a quantum program
- a funding opportunity, award, prize, letter of intent, loan or loan commitment for quantum work, with a stated amount
- a quantum executive order or law, or the launch, expansion or definition of a federal quantum program
Amounts keep the agency's own label, such as "up to," "planned," "about" or "conditional." A letter of intent or a selection for negotiations is not a final award. A company statement is used only where no federal page for the event could be found, and it is attributed. Deadlines set by an agency or an order are marked as scheduled.
Left out on purpose: private funding rounds, company pledges, state-only programs and audits. Also left out are hardware and error-correction results, technical roadmap targets and post-quantum cryptography standards and deadlines. The quantum computing milestones tracker covers those. Entries use the department name printed on the cited page.
Scheduled next
Targets set by the organizations named. Dates like these often move.
Scheduled
Deadline for an updated National Quantum Strategy under Executive Order 14413
Executive Order 14413, signed June 22, 2026, set this deadline. It directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to update the National Quantum Strategy within 180 days of the order. The order prints no calendar date. December 19, 2026 is 180 days after June 22, 2026.
Source: Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation, The White House
Scheduled
Final applications due for the Energy Department's Q Competition
The Energy Department set this deadline when it opened the Quantum Genesis Q Competition on September 17, 2026. It said final applications are due by October 19, 2026. The competition has up to $215 million in planned funding.
Timeline
Department of War announces about $350 million in quantum computing initiatives
The department's research and engineering office announced initiatives and program updates totaling about $350 million. They include about $200 million in new DARPA funding for Stage C. The Office of Strategic Capital announced a conditional loan commitment of about $150 million to PsiQuantum.
Source: Department of War Announces $350 Million in Quantum Computing Initiatives, U.S. Department of War
Energy Department names eight science problems to judge quantum computers by
DOE published eight key scientific utility problems in chemistry, materials, subatomic physics and applied mathematics. It said they will provide a concrete basis for judging whether fault-tolerant quantum computers are scientifically relevant. The page links them to its Q Competition.
Source: DOE Announces Science Applications for Quantum Computing, U.S. Department of Energy
White House says NSF launched a $33 million Quantum+X prize competition
A White House fact sheet said NSF had launched two $33 million Grand Research Challenge prize competitions. Only the one in Quantum+X applications is quantum work. The other is in synthetic multicellularity.
DARPA advances Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ to QBI Stage C
DARPA moved four more companies into Stage C, the final stage of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. They join Microsoft and PsiQuantum, which came through the earlier US2QC pilot. In Stage C, a government evaluation team works with the companies to test whether their systems can be built and run as planned.
Source: Four more teams enter Quantum Benchmarking Initiative’s final stage, DARPA
Energy Department opens the Q Competition with up to $215 million planned
The Quantum Genesis Q Competition asks companies to propose quantum computers with at least 100 logical qubits. A logical qubit spreads information over many physical qubits to catch errors. Of the planned funding, $2.5 million is fiscal 2026 money. Later funding depends on Congress.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $1 billion with IBM's Anderon
The Commerce Department signed a final research and development award of up to $1 billion with Anderon, a newly formed IBM subsidiary. It said the award will speed Anderon's work to set up a new quantum semiconductor foundry. The award is under the CHIPS and Science Act.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $375 million with GlobalFoundries
The Commerce Department signed a final award of up to $375 million with GlobalFoundries under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the money supports a secure domestic quantum foundry serving several quantum architectures. It also covers cryogenic chip design kits and advanced packaging.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $100 million with PsiQuantum
The Commerce Department signed a final award of up to $100 million with PsiQuantum under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the research addresses technical challenges in photonic quantum computing. Areas include single-photon detectors and ultra-low-loss photonic packaging.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $100 million with Quantinuum
The Commerce Department signed a final award of up to $100 million with Quantinuum under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the research targets manufacturing bottlenecks for quantum semiconductors. The release ties the work to scaling fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum computers.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $100 million with D-Wave
The Commerce Department signed a final award of up to $100 million with D-Wave under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the award funds research on semiconductor process technologies. It listed work on qubit counts, error rates and coherence.
Commerce finalizes a CHIPS award of up to $100 million with Rigetti
The Commerce Department signed a final award of up to $100 million with Rigetti under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the research covers readout electronics, cryostat architectures and chip fabrication. The aim is to scale next-generation superconducting quantum computing.
NSF commits more than $290 million to eight quantum research institutes
NSF said eight institutes in its Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program will share more than $290 million. Each gets between about $28 million and $37 million over five years. Three of the institutes are new, and five were set up with earlier NSF funding.
Energy Department lists $7 million in quantum technology outpost selections
DOE posted selections under funding announcement DE-FOA-0003600 for quantum technology outposts in fundamental physics, totaling $7 million. The teams are at national laboratories and universities. DOE says selection for negotiations is not a commitment to fund.
DARPA's It's About Time program awards IonQ an optical clock contract
DARPA said the program aims to set up a pilot manufacturing pipeline for tactical-grade optical clocks. It is meant to show that quantum and quantum-enabling technologies can be made at scale. The program awarded a contract to IonQ and expects a facility to open by mid-2027.
Energy Department announces Quantum Genesis to deploy fault-tolerant quantum computers
DOE announced Quantum Genesis as a core part of its Genesis Mission. It aims to build and deploy a fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computing capability for research by 2028. It cited the new executive order on quantum innovation.
Executive Order 14413 sets up a national effort to build a science quantum computer
The order establishes the QC-ADDS Effort, which is intended to deliver at least one quantum computer to an Energy Department facility. It also orders an updated National Quantum Strategy and plans for quantum sensors and networks. It names no dollar amounts.
Source: Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation, The White House
Commerce signs quantum computing letters of intent worth $2.013 billion with nine companies
Commerce proposed $2.013 billion in CHIPS incentives. IBM had $1 billion in planned funding, GlobalFoundries $375 million and five others $100 million each. Rigetti had up to $100 million and Diraq up to $38 million. Each deal requires a minority equity stake.
Quandela joins Stage A of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative
DARPA said on October 7, 2026 that Quandela had joined Stage A of the initiative in May 2026. It called the company the most recent entrant to the program.
Source: Four more teams enter Quantum Benchmarking Initiative’s final stage, DARPA
DARPA names 19 teams for its HARQ mixed-qubit quantum program
DARPA's Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum program aims to link different qubit types in one system. It named 19 performer teams from 15 organizations in two workstreams. They include Infleqtion, IonQ, Q-CTRL, Harvard and Stanford. The work runs over 24 months.
Source: For quantum computing, different qubits are better together, DARPA
DARPA opens a new Stage A track for companies not yet in QBI
DARPA invited organizations not yet funded by its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative to apply through a new Stage A topic, QBIT. Abstracts were due July 31 and full proposals September 30, 2026. DARPA said 11 organizations had already advanced to Stage B.
Source: Quantum Benchmarking Initiative expands quest to separate hype from reality, DARPA
IonQ says DARPA advanced it to Stage B of the benchmarking initiative
IonQ said it had advanced to Stage B of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. It described the stage as building a detailed research and development roadmap through 2033. The release gives no dollar figures.
Source: IonQ Advances to Stage B of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), IonQ
Energy Department announces $625 million to renew five quantum research centers
DOE renewed its five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, led by Brookhaven, Fermilab, Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge. Awards last up to five years. Of the $625 million, $125 million is fiscal 2025 money. Later funding depends on Congress.
NSF moves four National Quantum Virtual Laboratory teams into design
NSF said it is investing $16 million in four teams entering the design phase of its National Quantum Virtual Laboratory. Each receives $4 million over two years. Projects include a trapped-ion system, photonics, a wide-area quantum network and a Rydberg atom lab.
DARPA and New Mexico set up the Quantum Frontier Project
DARPA signed an agreement with New Mexico's Economic Development Department as part of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. Depending on results, DARPA and the state may each make matching contributions of up to $60 million over four years. The agreement does not set specific funding levels.
Source: DARPA, State of New Mexico establish framework to advance quantum computing, DARPA
DARPA and Maryland create the Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub
DARPA and Maryland agreed to set up a hub at the University of Maryland to test and evaluate quantum computing prototypes. Each may provide matching contributions of up to $100 million over four years, depending on results. The agreement sets no specific funding levels.
Source: DARPA, State of Maryland sign agreement to propel quantum research, DARPA
DARPA names companies for Stage A of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative
DARPA said nearly 20 companies were chosen for Stage A, a six-month sprint to describe a useful, fault-tolerant quantum computer. As of October 2026, its page names 17, among them IBM, IonQ and Quantinuum. QuEra Computing was added April 29, 2025, and Google Quantum AI September 9, 2025.
Source: DARPA eyes companies targeting industrially useful quantum computers, DARPA
DARPA picks Microsoft and PsiQuantum for its final validation stage
DARPA said it selected and was negotiating with Microsoft and PsiQuantum for the Validation and Co-Design stage of its US2QC program. That final phase has the same technical goals as the final stage of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
Source: DARPA selects two discrete utility-scale quantum computing approaches for evaluation, DARPA
DARPA launches the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative
DARPA announced QBI to benchmark quantum computing applications and algorithms. It said QBI aims to significantly increase engagement with and funding for hardware companies. It grew out of two earlier programs, Quantum Benchmarking and US2QC.
Source: Moving quantum computing from hype to prototype, DARPA
Update history
- A new tracker logs US federal decisions on quantum technology since July 2024. It covers program selections and launches, funding and awards with stated amounts, and quantum executive orders.
Articles on Quantum Computing
Quantum Computing Explained Without the Math
Quantum computers use qubits, superposition, entanglement and interference to tackle a narrow set of hard problems. They are real but error-prone, and are not expected to replace ordinary computers.
When Will Quantum Computers Break Encryption?
No one knows. Estimates run from a few years to a few decades, and a survey published in March 2026 put the average odds within 10 years at 28% to 49%. Migration deadlines run from 2029 to 2035.