Sydney-Founded Diraq Signs US$38 Million Letter Of Intent Under CHIPS Act For Silicon Quantum Processors

Diraq, the Sydney-founded quantum computing company, has signed a Letter of Intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to US$38 million in proposed federal funding from the CHIPS Research and Development Office.

The proposed award would support production and scaling of fault-tolerant silicon quantum computing processors through the U.S. semiconductor industry, accelerating development of domestic infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities.

Diraq’s approach uses silicon-based quantum processors fabricated with existing CMOS semiconductor manufacturing processes. The company claims the technology has the potential to contain millions of qubits on a single chip.

Decades of foundational research

Andrew Dzurak, Diraq Founder and CEO, pointed to the long history of U.S. government funding that underpins the company’s technology.

“The U.S. Government has played an important role for over 25 years in funding silicon quantum research through entities such as the U.S. Army Research Office and more recently DARPA,” Dzurak explained. “The foundational advancements that came from this work underpin Diraq’s technology today.”

“Silicon-based processors are the most economical and scalable approach to utility-scale quantum computing. By scaling our CMOS qubit technology in the United States, we are defining the industrial standard for the next era of supercomputing and cementing the nation’s role as a global architect of fault-tolerant quantum systems.”

Bill Frauenhofer, Executive Director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation at the U.S. Department of Commerce, outlined the strategic rationale for the investment.

“The Department of Commerce’s incentives strengthen and accelerate U.S. quantum leadership and technological resilience,” Frauenhofer observed. “Quantum computing has significant implications for national defense, advanced materials and biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling and energy systems.”

National competitiveness argument

Dr. William Jeffrey, Chairman of the Board for Diraq and former Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), framed the funding as a signal about which quantum architectures the U.S. government considers viable.

“This LOI is a powerful signal that the U.S. government recognizes silicon-based quantum processors as a viable architecture to securing domestic computing leadership,” Jeffrey remarked. “Quantum technology is a matter of national competitiveness. Diraq’s approach, built on decades of foundational research, is uniquely positioned to deliver scalable, fault-tolerant quantum systems.”

The investment is intended to enable an end-to-end quantum supply chain, including cryostats, chips and packaging, with fully American production.

Industrial specifications

Diraq has been shortlisted for Stage B of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). The company’s system architecture targets sub-dollar pricing at less than US$1 per physical qubit, along with compact, rack-deployable units compatible with existing data centre environments.

Gregg Bartlett, Chief Technology Officer at GlobalFoundries, confirmed the partnership with Diraq on the manufacturing side.

“As quantum computing enters its industrial phase, the challenge shifts from scientific discovery to engineering and scale, making reliable access to advanced semiconductor infrastructure essential,” Bartlett noted. “We’re proud to partner with Diraq to advance silicon-based quantum processors, leveraging our cryo-CMOS quantum capabilities and broad technology portfolio under one roof to enable quantum systems at scale within a trusted domestic ecosystem.”

Growing U.S. footprint

Founded in Sydney, Diraq has U.S. offices and labs in Palo Alto and Chicago and will soon open a new operation in Los Angeles. The company has more than 100 team members globally, with operations also in Melbourne.

Diraq’s proprietary quantum dot technology is based on 20 years of research by Dzurak and is designed to enable millions of qubits on a single chip using the same manufacturing methods that produce today’s semiconductor components.

Last Updated on May 22, 2026 by Nick Ross