US pursues utility-scale quantum computers with new $125M DARPA validation deal PsiQuantum has secured a $125 million DARPA deal to expand testing of its utility-scale quantum computing technology. Read Next: US Navy picks $70 million cruise missile designed for rapid mass productionQuantum computing company PsiQuantum has secured a $125 million expanded agreement with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to test and evaluate its plans for building utility-scale quantum computers. The performance-based agreement is the company’s largest government award to date and expands work under DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a program designed to assess whether commercial quantum computing approaches can eventually deliver large-scale, fault-tolerant systems. PsiQuantum is one of two companies that have reached Stage C, the final and most advanced phase of QBI. The latest agreement will support evaluations of the company’s hardware designs, key components, system-level performance and software. The funding will also help PsiQuantum invest in infrastructure at facilities in Milpitas, California, and Chicago, Illinois, as the company works toward building and deploying utility-scale quantum computers. DARPA puts quantum plans The new agreement expands an evaluation process that has involved extensive technical scrutiny. DARPA experts have reviewed PsiQuantum’s designs, examined prototype reports, conducted on-site testing, and watched demonstrations of key components and fabrication processes. The agency has also evaluated resource estimates for running complex quantum algorithms and gained access to Construct, PsiQuantum’s platform for developing fault-tolerant algorithms. More from Military See All” DARPA’s widely respected team of experts has stress-tested PsiQuantum’s approach, provided an independent and clear-eyed assessment and validation of our designs and our teams, and ultimately made our company and technology all the better for it.” The agreement builds on PsiQuantum’s earlier work with DARPA. The agency selected the company in January 2023 for the initial stage of the Underexplored Systems for