COLLEGE PARK, Md. – October 7, 2026 -- IonQ, the world’s leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, has advanced to Stage C of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). IonQ and DARPA have signed a Stage C agreement with a potential value of up to $300 million to continue validating IonQ’s approach to delivering large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers. Funding beyond the initial obligation remains subject to future appropriations and DARPA funding actions.

The Big Picture

DARPA's QBI is one of the most rigorous technology evaluation programs in the U.S. government, designed to determine whether quantum computing systems can reach utility scale — where their computational value exceeds their cost. Throughout Stages A and B, IonQ shared prototype hardware data with DARPA to support its technical roadmap. IonQ’s successful advancement to Stage C brings DARPA’s most exacting, independent review of the coming generations of IonQ’s Superion quantum systems.

IonQ is among the first companies to advance to this stage after demonstrating leadership with its technical plan and execution in earlier stages:

• Stage A - IonQ defined the technical concept for a utility-scale quantum computer.
• Stage B - IonQ developed a detailed R&D roadmap, including the technical requirements, designs, and risk-mitigation plans needed to achieve its proposed system. 

Executive Perspective

"Advancing to Stage C is a significant vote of confidence in IonQ's technology roadmap and architecture for delivering quantum computing at utility scale," said Niccolo de Masi, IonQ Chairman and CEO. "We've long believed that winning the quantum race requires more than achieving technical milestones. It requires building systems that can be manufactured reliably and at scale, and that are designed to solve some of the world's most complex problems.  That's not a future promise — it's happening today, with our sixth-generation quantum computer, Superion 256.”

Next Steps

Running through 2029, Stage C will welcome multiple Superion generations to DARPA’s independent verification and validation process. DARPA’s team will rigorously test IonQ’s scalable hardware and software to demonstrate performance against its technical roadmap.

Throughout the QBI process, IonQ will continue scaling its manufacturing and deployment of Superion systems. As it does, the company will take on more customers tackling a wide range of commercial, scientific, and security challenges. 

“Radical simplification and rapid scale are at the heart of how we build,” said Chris Ballance, IonQ President of Quantum Computing. “The path to scale isn't more complexity – it’s stripping complexity out, so systems can be manufactured, deployed, and operated reliably at volume. That's the discipline DARPA's independent verification is now putting to the test."