PsiQuantum Secures $1 Billion to Advance Million-Qubit Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing
In a groundbreaking development for the quantum computing industry, PsiQuantum has announced the successful completion of a $1 billion Series E funding round aimed at building the world’s first commercially viable, fault-tolerant quantum computers. This monumental investment will enable PsiQuantum to break ground on utility-scale quantum computing facilities in Brisbane and Chicago, deploy large-scale prototype systems to validate architectural designs, and further enhance the performance of its quantum photonic chips and fault-tolerant architecture.
The funding round was led by funds and accounts managed by affiliates of BlackRock, alongside prominent investors such as Temasek and Baillie Gifford. New investors joining the round include Macquarie Capital, Ribbit Capital, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Adage Capital Management, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Type One Ventures, Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), 1789 Capital, and S Ventures (SentinelOne). Existing investors like Blackbird, Third Point Ventures, and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., also participated, underscoring their continued confidence in PsiQuantum’s vision. The round values the company at $7 billion, reflecting the immense potential of its quantum computing technology.
A Vision for Million-Qubit Quantum Computers
PsiQuantum was founded with the belief that commercially valuable quantum computing requires error correction, necessitating systems capable of scaling to a million physical qubits. While teams worldwide are racing to build fault-tolerant quantum systems, they face significant challenges related to manufacturability, cooling, and networking. PsiQuantum’s approach leverages the unique properties of photonic qubits combined with high-volume semiconductor manufacturing—a strategy the company believes offers a clear path to overcoming these hurdles.
“Only building the real thing—million-qubit scale, fault-tolerant machines—will unlock the promise of quantum computing,” said Professor Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum’s co-founder and CEO. “This is not a science experiment; it’s a grand engineering challenge. From day one, we’ve tackled the hardest problems at the architectural and chip levels. Now, we’re mass-manufacturing best-in-class quantum photonic chips at a leading U.S. semiconductor fab. With this funding, we’re ready to take decisive steps toward delivering the full potential of quantum computing.”
Dr. Pete Shadbolt, PsiQuantum’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, added, “Nearly nine years after we started, we’ve pushed the technology to unprecedented levels of maturity and performance. We have the chips, the switches, scalable cooling technology, networking capabilities, the sites, commercial motive, and government support. We’re ready to build utility-scale quantum systems.”
Strategic Collaboration with NVIDIA
In addition to securing funding from NVentures, PsiQuantum has announced a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA to accelerate quantum computing development. The partnership spans several key areas, including quantum algorithms and software, GPU-QPU integration, and advancements in PsiQuantum’s silicon photonics platform. This collaboration underscores the growing intersection between quantum computing and AI, as both fields increasingly rely on high-performance computing architectures.
Since its Series D financing in 2021, PsiQuantum has established a high-volume manufacturing process for its integrated photonic chipset, which includes all components necessary for photonic quantum computing. These chips, designed by PsiQuantum, are manufactured at GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 in New York—a state-of-the-art semiconductor foundry. Importantly, PsiQuantum has integrated Barium Titanate (BTO), one of the world’s highest-performing electro-optic materials, into its manufacturing flow. BTO is critical for ultra-high-performance optical switches, a missing piece in scaling optical quantum computing. PsiQuantum produces 300mm wafers of BTO at its California facilities, which are then integrated with wafers manufactured at GlobalFoundries.
The new funding will allow PsiQuantum to scale up BTO production to the volumes required for utility-scale quantum computing. Additionally, BTO-enabled optical switches hold promise for next-generation AI supercomputers, where low-power, high-speed optical networking is becoming increasingly relevant due to the rapid growth of AI workloads.
Building Utility-Scale Quantum Systems
Beyond its photonic chips, PsiQuantum is developing the cooling, networking, and control systems necessary for utility-scale quantum machines. Unlike many quantum computing approaches that rely on “chandelier”-style cryostats, PsiQuantum has designed and commissioned a high-density cooling solution akin to modular datacenter racks. This innovative system can cool hundreds of quantum chips within a single cabinet, significantly improving scalability.
The company has also demonstrated high-fidelity quantum networking between distant cabinets using standard telecom fiber—a crucial requirement for most approaches to utility-scale quantum computing. These advancements highlight PsiQuantum’s commitment to creating practical, scalable solutions that can transition quantum computing from the lab to real-world applications.
Industry Leaders Weigh In
Tony Kim, Head of the Fundamental Equities Technology Group at BlackRock, commented, “AI is built on classical computing, which has underpinned the last fifty years of technology. Now, we are at the dawn of an adjacent computing platform—rooted in quantum mechanics—that will allow us to simulate the physical world with transformative accuracy.”
Luke Ward, Private Companies Investment Manager at Baillie Gifford, echoed this sentiment: “We first backed PsiQuantum over six years ago, recognizing its unique approach to scaling quantum computing. Since then, the company has consistently hit technical milestones while forging deep partnerships across industry and government. With a vision rooted in practicality, PsiQuantum is now positioned at the forefront of what could be a trillion-dollar industry, capable of solving some of humanity’s biggest challenges. This goes beyond what is possible with AI.”
Unlocking the Potential of Quantum Computing
With this latest funding and collaboration with NVIDIA, PsiQuantum is poised to revolutionize the quantum computing landscape. By focusing on million-qubit, fault-tolerant systems and leveraging high-volume semiconductor manufacturing, the company is addressing the scalability challenges that have long hindered progress in the field. As PsiQuantum moves closer to realizing its vision of utility-scale quantum computing, the potential applications—from drug discovery to climate modeling to advanced AI—are virtually limitless.
For industries and governments alike, the advent of practical quantum computing represents a paradigm shift in how we solve complex problems. PsiQuantum’s groundbreaking work brings us one step closer to unlocking the transformative power of quantum mechanics, heralding a new era of technological innovation.
About PsiQuantum
PsiQuantum was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company’s mission is to build and deploy the world’s first useful quantum computers. PsiQuantum’s photonic approach enables it to leverage high-volume semiconductor manufacturing, existing cryogenic infrastructure, and architectural flexibility to rapidly scale its systems. Learn more at www.psiquantum.com.
