D-Wave to acquire Quantum Circuits in bid to become world’s leading quantum computing firm

D-Wave Quantum Inc., a commercial supplier of quantum computing hardware and software, today announced an agreement to acquire the leading developer of gate-model quantum computing systems Quantum Circuits Inc.

The deal includes a bid offer from D-Wave of $550 million, consisting of $300 million in D-Wave common stock and $250 million in cash.

“With this acquisition, we believe that D-Wave has unequivocally cemented its position as the world’s most advanced and established leader in superconducting quantum computing,” said Chief Executive Dr. Alan Baratz.

D-Wave develops annealing quantum computing hardware, which works by mapping a problem onto a quantum system’s qubits and then exploring solutions that represent the lowest energy state, corresponding to the most accurate answer. This method is valuable for solving optimization problems by allowing the system to naturally settle into the most probable configuration.

Qubits are the basic unit of quantum information, used in logical representations of mathematics and code, similar to a classical computer 1 or 0. Unlike traditional computers, qubits can also be held in “superposition,” or the state of being 1 and 0 at the same time. This capability, along with entanglement – where multiple qubits are linked so that measuring one affects the state of the others predictably – allows quantum computers to solve massively parallel problems with extreme speed and accuracy.

Quantum Circuits, a spinout from Yale University, develops error-corrected superconducting gate-model quantum qubits. The company has developed a specialized mechanism for quantum qubits, providing built-in error detection and higher-quality qubits. This is necessary for building logical qubits, which are qubits made up of multiple physical qubits that provide one answer that is corrected for errors that can be caused by minor fluctuations in the environment.

Gate-model qubits differ from D-Wave’s annealing qubits by providing quantum logic circuits, similar to classic logic gates: including AND, OR, XOR and NOT. They are capable of building any classical algorithms, whereas annealing qubits are specialized for optimization problems.

D-Wave and Quantum Circuits believe that combining expertise and technologies will allow the production of a fully error-corrected, scaled gate-model quantum computer for commercial use. The acquisition has accelerated D-Wave’s plans to ship a gate-model quantum system, aimed for release in 2026.

“Combining our dual-rail gate-model processor with D-Wave’s scalable control and readout is expected to enable a nearer-term path to large-scale error-corrected gate-model systems,” said Dr. Rob Schoelkopf, chief scientist and co-founder of Quantum Circuits.

Schoelkopf is a leading innovator of superconducting qubits and a renowned quantum professor at Yale University. He is the inventor of transmon and dual-rail quantum technologies, and an award-winning expert in superconducting quantum computing and error correction. Over three decades, he and his colleagues at Yale have delivered multiple breakthroughs in quantum-gate technology.

Quantum Circuits raised $60 million in early-stage funding in August 2024, aiming to commercialize its scalable error-corrected quantum computing technology.

D-Wave said it will be detailing the company’s updated product roadmap and accelerated path to error-corrected gate model quantum computing at the Qubits 2026 conference on January 27 in Florida.

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