Quantum Computing News: IonQ Wins $28M DARPA Deal, D-Wave Bookings Explode 1,120% as Rigetti Losses Stay High

Welcome all to Monday's quantum news recap. It is earnings season, so this edition includes plenty of quarterly numbers, alongside a new $28 million DARPA contract for IonQ, another step toward Pasqal's Nasdaq listing, fresh funding and manufacturing progress at Xanadu, and new financial and technical updates from Rigetti and D-Wave.

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1. IonQ Wins $28 Million DARPA Clock Contract

We begin with IonQ Inc. (IONQ), a developer of trapped-ion quantum computers and quantum networking technology, which received a $28 million contract extension from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to expand production of its Evergreen-05 optical atomic clocks. IonQ will deliver 125 units to U.S. government customers and plans to invest another $15 million in manufacturing facilities, equipment, and staff.

The Evergreen-05, which came into IonQ through its 2025 acquisition of Vector Atomic, is designed for radar, secure communications, and precision geolocation. The contract gives IonQ another source of government business outside its core computing operations, while also testing whether the company can turn acquired quantum sensing technology into repeatable production revenue.

2. Pasqal Moves Closer to Nasdaq Listing

Pasqal, a privately held developer of neutral-atom quantum computers, moved closer to becoming a public company after the SEC declared its registration statement for the proposed merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II (BBCQ) effective. Bleichroeder shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal on August 25, and the combined company is expected to trade on Nasdaq as Pasqal Holding SA under the ticker PSQL if the transaction closes.

Pasqal has continued expanding deployments and partnerships ahead of the vote, including work with Crédit Agricole, Saudi Aramco, MegazoneCloud, and Italy's CINECA supercomputing center. The near-term issue for investors is less about Pasqal's long-range goal of reaching more than 10,000 physical qubits and more about whether shareholders approve the deal and the listing proceeds as planned.

3. Xanadu Raises $67 Million as Spending Picks Up

Xanadu Quantum Technologies (XNDU), a photonic quantum computing company, raised $67.2 million through a financing facility with Yorkville Advisors and ended June with $312.8 million in cash. The company is increasing production of its thin-film lithium niobate and silicon nitride photonic components while adding engineering staff and expanding operations in Albany, New York. Research and development spending reached $19.7 million in the second quarter, up $2.4 million from the first quarter, while capital spending rose to $6.4 million from $0.3 million.

Xanadu posted a $42.1 million net loss, so the balance sheet remains important as it scales manufacturing and develops software including PennyLane and a new quantum memory technique designed to cut the number of certain gate operations by about half. Management plans to provide more detailed spending guidance later this summer, which should give investors a better view of how quickly cash use may increase.

4. Rigetti Holds $541 Million While Losses Remain High

Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI), a developer of superconducting quantum computers, ended the second quarter with $541.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investments, while reporting just $5.1 million in revenue and a $28.1 million operating loss. The company continues to spend heavily on hardware development, reporting about 99.1% median two-qubit gate fidelity on its 108-qubit Cepheus-1 system while targeting roughly 1,000 qubits, 99.9% two-qubit fidelity, and gate speeds below 50 nanoseconds over the next three years.

Rigetti is also working with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center on a hybrid quantum-classical supercomputer and has a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million in potential CHIPS Act funding. That funding is not yet guaranteed and would involve an equity stake for the government, making the final terms important for investors watching both Rigetti's R&D runway and possible dilution.

5. D-Wave Bookings Jump Even as Revenue Stays Flat

We end with D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS), a quantum computing company focused on annealing systems while also developing gate-model technology, which reported second-quarter revenue of $3.1 million, roughly unchanged from a year earlier. The stronger part of the report was demand: first-half bookings jumped more than 1,120% to $35.5 million, while remaining performance obligations rose 668% to $40.7 million, with 57% expected to convert into revenue over the next 12 months. Commercial customers generated 67.7% of first-half revenue, up from 16% a year earlier, and production applications accounted for 37.3% of quantum-computing-as-a-service revenue.

D-Wave also ended the quarter with $546.2 million in cash and investments and laid out plans to reach 20,000 annealing qubits by 2029 and 10 logical gate-model qubits by 2030. Because system sales can make quarterly revenue uneven, the next useful signal for investors will be how much of the growing backlog turns into reported revenue over the coming quarters.