Quantum Company Delays Processor Plans By One Year

Higher-than-anticipated labor, equipment and system component expenses increased the costs of system development.

Market and supply chain conditions hampered the timely availability of input materials for the company’s machines.

Rigetti’s merger with special-purpose acquisition company Supernova Partners in March freed less working capital than the company expected, leaving the company unable to absorb these increased costs and timing factors.

Rigetti plans to base its single-chip, 84-qubit quantum computer on its next-generation chip designed for higher fidelities and increased connectivity.

The company says it expects its 336-qubit multi-chip processor to combine the anticipated improvements of its 84-qubit processor with the modular, multi-chip scaling technology of its Aspen-M machine. Similarly, its 1,000- and 4,000-qubit systems combine the company’s multi-chip technology and next-generation architecture.

“Rigetti delivered in the first quarter of 2022 to lay the foundation for our next growth phase,” said company CEO Chad Rigetti, who founded the company in 2013.

“We are excited to announce the anticipated launches of our next-generation, single-chip, 84-qubit quantum computer expected in 2023 and 336-qubit multi-chip processor later. As key touchpoints along our broader roadmap, we believe these machines will deliver increased performance across the key dimensions of speed, scale and fidelity.

“Rigetti’s technology is nine years in the making, and we believe we are at an opportunity-rich period of time. Our entrance to the public markets in March was another exciting milestone that has grateful to our team whose deep technical expertise and powerful mission-driven focus is showing the world quantum’s promise.”