Diraq gets $51M first tranche in DARPA contract worth up to $300M

Diraq is building quantum processors that store qubits in the spins of electrons held in silicon, with the aim of having chip foundries make the hardware and data centers run it beside conventional computers. DARPA selected the Sydney company for Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative on October 7, committing an initial $51 million for the first year under an R&D contract that can be worth up to $300 million.

The hardware workflow starts with electrons confined in tiny silicon “quantum dots.” Control electronics manipulate their spins, and sensors convert the resulting state into a readable signal. Diraq’s distinguishing bet is manufacturing: its devices use a 300-millimeter, CMOS-compatible process rather than a fabrication system built only for quantum chips. That could let it draw on established semiconductor equipment and supply chains, but it does not by itself demonstrate a large, fault-tolerant computer.

The best public evidence is still far smaller than Diraq’s goal. A peer-reviewed 2026 study reported coherent control and readout of an eight-qubit linear array fabricated on a 300-millimeter line, extending the process beyond earlier one- and two-qubit devices. The researchers also said entangling gates across the paired cells remained to be shown and that fault-tolerant machines will likely need higher-dimensional connections. Diraq says it targets 150,000 qubits in 2029 and more than 2 million on one chip by 2031.

Stage C is built to test that leap, not endorse it in advance. DARPA says its evaluators will work alongside Diraq to check whether the proposed system can be constructed and operated as designed. The agency isn’t choosing a single winner: Atom Computing, IBM and IonQ advanced alongside Diraq, joining Microsoft and PsiQuantum, and DARPA says multiple participants—or none—may ultimately establish a credible path to utility scale, where computational value exceeds the machine’s cost.

Diraq says the first-year money will pay for technical demonstrations, design work, system updates and expanded testing infrastructure. The remainder of the $300 million ceiling is not money already in hand. Forbes Australia reports that subsequent tranches will unlock only if Diraq remains in the program, a distinction that matters when the current machine is measured in single digits and the planned system in millions.

A nearer test is scheduled for this month. Diraq plans to install an eight-qubit system at an Equinix data center in Sydney, with cooling and control electronics self-contained and remote network access. The company says the setup will draw less than 20 kilowatts; partners and prospective customers are slated to see it only after testing. For now, the deployment is a demonstration platform, not the utility-scale product DARPA is paying to evaluate.