Pentagon offers PsiQuantum a conditional loan of up to $150m

The PsiQuantum loan would equip its Milpitas prototype hub with test gear and cryogenic systems. It follows a $125m DARPA deal and a $100m Commerce award, and is not yet guaranteed.


Row of large steel cryogenic cabinets with round viewing ports and red-handled clamps, connected by cables and pipes inside a white factory hall

Cryogenic cabinets at PsiQuantum’s PsiFactory in Milpitas, California

Image Credits Credit: PsiQuantum

PsiQuantum has received a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $150 million from the US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital. The quantum computing company announced the commitment on Thursday.

It is the second conditional loan from the same Pentagon office in two days. On Wednesday, the Office of Strategic Capital offered chipmaker Wolfspeed up to $1.5bn.

“Today’s announcement shows the U.S. government’s bold leadership and continued commitment to quantum computing as a critical technology for America’s economic prosperity and national security,” said Victor Peng, PsiQuantum’s chief executive.

What the loan would pay for

The PsiQuantum loan would go to PsiFactory, PsiQuantum’s 140,000-square-foot hub in Milpitas, California. There, the company develops and tests the prototype systems behind its planned fault-tolerant quantum computers. PsiQuantum would add its own investment.

The loan would buy test equipment for components and systems, infrastructure for assembly and testing, and advanced cryogenic systems for the prototypes, according to PsiQuantum.

PsiQuantum says the financing is not guaranteed. A final loan will only follow if the company meets all the financial, legal, technical and regulatory conditions.

A year of US government deals

In July, PsiQuantum signed a $125 million expanded agreement with DARPA under its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. The programme tests whether anyone can build a useful quantum computer by 2033. PsiQuantum and Microsoft were already in its final stage when DARPA added four more teams on Wednesday.

In September, PsiQuantum finalised a $100 million award from the US Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act. It said the money would fund work on optical switches, single-photon detectors and packaging. The company has also worked with the Air Force Research Lab since 2022.

Outside the US, PsiQuantum broke ground in Australia in June, at Moreton Bay in Queensland. In September 2025, it broke ground in Chicago at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.

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