PsiQuantum, a leading photonic quantum computing company, has raised $1 billion in Series E funding, bringing its valuation to $7 billion. The round, led by BlackRock with participation from Temasek, Baillie Gifford, and NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm), marks one of the largest financings to date in the quantum sector. It positions PsiQuantum to take decisive steps toward building the world’s first commercially useful, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

The funding will be used to:

• Break ground on utility-scale quantum computing sites in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, U.S.

• Deploy large-scale prototype systems to validate systems architecture and integration.

• Advance the performance of PsiQuantum’s photonic quantum chips and fault-tolerant architecture.

• Scale manufacturing of barium titanate (BTO) optical switches, a critical enabler of high-performance photonic quantum systems.

Fault tolerance as the barrier to commercial value

PsiQuantum argues that commercially valuable quantum computing requires error correction, which in turn demands systems with on the order of a million physical qubits. Small-scale, noisy quantum computers with only tens or hundreds of qubits, while useful for research, lack the reliability needed for real-world impact.

CEO and co-founder Jeremy O’Brien emphasized this point:

“Only building the real thing – million-qubit-scale, fault-tolerant machines – will unlock the promise of quantum computing. We defined what it takes from day one: this is a grand engineering challenge, not a science experiment.”

By tackling the architectural and manufacturing challenges early, PsiQuantum aims to leapfrog competitors pursuing incremental progress with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.

Photonic approach: scalability through semiconductors

PsiQuantum’s strategy centers on photonic qubits—quantum bits encoded in photons—integrated using silicon photonics. Unlike superconducting or trapped-ion qubits, photonic qubits:

• Operate at room temperature, eliminating expensive cryogenic systems.

• Are compatible with high-volume semiconductor manufacturing, leveraging existing chipmaking infrastructure.

• Offer natural advantages for networking and distributed architectures, critical for scaling to utility size.

Since its Series D in 2021, PsiQuantum has established a commercial manufacturing flow at GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 in New York, producing advanced 300 mm silicon photonic wafers. This partnership ensures that PsiQuantum’s chips can be fabricated at industrial volumes rather than remaining laboratory prototypes.

The role of barium titanate (BTO)

A key breakthrough has been PsiQuantum’s integration of barium titanate (BTO) into its photonic chip manufacturing process. BTO is one of the highest-performing electro-optic materials known, enabling ultra-fast, low-power optical switches—long considered a bottleneck for scaling photonic quantum computing.

PsiQuantum manufactures BTO wafers at its California facilities, then integrates them with silicon photonics wafers at GlobalFoundries. This dual-site production model is intended to scale BTO-enabled switches to utility volumes, not only for quantum but also for emerging AI supercomputers, where optical interconnects can reduce energy consumption and latency.

System integration and prototype roadmap

The $1 billion financing enables PsiQuantum to begin assembling large-scale prototype systems, validating full-stack integration of its photonic qubits, optical switches, networking, and cooling systems. According to co-founder and CSO Pete Shadbolt, the company has achieved maturity across all key subsystems:

“Nearly nine years after we started, we have pushed the technology to an unprecedented level of maturity and performance. We have the chips, we have the switches, we have a scalable cooling technology, we can do networking, we have found the sites, we have the commercial motive and the government support – we’re ready to get on and build utility-scale systems.”

By situating initial utility-scale sites in Brisbane and Chicago, PsiQuantum signals both a global expansion strategy and alignment with government-backed quantum initiatives in the U.S. and Australia.

Strategic validation from investors and partners

The Series E attracted participation from long-term institutional investors and strategic technology backers:

• BlackRock’s Tony Kim highlighted quantum’s role as the “dawn of an adjacent computing platform” capable of simulating the physical world with transformative accuracy.

• Baillie Gifford emphasized PsiQuantum’s practicality and consistent milestone achievement, calling it a frontrunner in what could become a trillion-dollar industry.

• NVIDIA’s NVentures is not only an investor but also a collaborator, working with PsiQuantum on GPU–QPU integration, quantum algorithms, and photonics-enabled AI networking.

Together, this coalition of investors and partners provides both capital depth and strategic ecosystems to accelerate PsiQuantum’s path to commercialization.

Beyond AI: a new compute paradigm

While AI has defined the past decade of computing, investors note that quantum computing represents the next platform shift, enabling breakthroughs in areas AI cannot yet address:

• Chemical and material simulations for clean energy and new materials.

• Drug discovery through accurate molecular modeling.

• Financial optimization and risk management.

• Logistics and supply chain optimization at scales impossible for classical systems.

As BlackRock’s Kim framed it, quantum will complement AI, not replace it—unlocking applications rooted in quantum mechanics rather than statistical approximation.

PsiQuantum and the race to fault-tolerant quantum

PsiQuantum’s $1 billion Series E raise represents not just a capital infusion but a strategic escalation in the race to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer. The company’s photonic approach differentiates it from competitors pursuing superconducting, ion-trap, and neutral atom architectures, each of which has distinct advantages and barriers.

Superconducting qubits: IBM, Google, and Rigetti

Superconducting qubits have led much of the early progress in quantum computing, with heavyweights like IBM, Google, and Rigetti investing in scaling efforts.

• IBM has announced ambitious roadmaps toward a million-qubit system by the 2030s, currently offering cloud access to processors exceeding 1,000 qubits. However, error correction remains a major challenge, with qubit fidelity and cryogenic cooling as limiting factors.

• Google captured global attention in 2019 by claiming “quantum supremacy” with its 53-qubit Sycamore processor. Its roadmap envisions scaling to fault tolerance but requires extensive cryogenic infrastructure, limiting scalability.

• Rigetti Computing, once a promising startup, has struggled with execution and funding, underscoring the immense difficulty of scaling superconducting systems.

While superconducting platforms benefit from strong ecosystem support and cloud integration, PsiQuantum argues they lack the manufacturability and scalability advantages of photonic systems.

Ion traps: IonQ and Quantinuum

Trapped-ion systems use ions suspended in electromagnetic fields, manipulated with lasers. They offer high-fidelity qubits and long coherence times.

• IonQ, a Nasdaq-listed company, markets itself as having the world’s most accurate quantum computers. Its systems currently reach dozens of algorithmic qubits, but scalability beyond hundreds of qubits remains uncertain.

• Quantinuum, a merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, has become a strong contender in ion traps, leveraging Honeywell’s industrial engineering.

The challenge for ion traps lies in control complexity—scaling requires elaborate laser systems, vacuum chambers, and error correction overhead, which may prove impractical at million-qubit scale.

Neutral atoms: Pasqal and Atom Computing

Neutral atom systems, where atoms are trapped using optical tweezers, have emerged as a promising third architecture.

• Pasqal (France) has gained attention for its analog-digital hybrid approach, attracting investment and partnerships across Europe.

• Atom Computing (U.S.) raised $100 million to expand its neutral atom platform, emphasizing long coherence times and natural scalability.

Neutral atoms show promise for scalability, but the technology is still in the early proof-of-concept stage compared to superconducting and ion-trap platforms.

Photonics: PsiQuantum and QuiX Quantum

In contrast, PsiQuantum is the global frontrunner in photonic quantum computing, leveraging:

• Silicon photonics manufacturing at GlobalFoundries, enabling scalability through semiconductor fabs.

• Room-temperature operation, avoiding the need for dilution refrigerators.

• Intrinsic networking potential, as photons are natural carriers of quantum information across distances.

PsiQuantum’s main photonic competitor is QuiX Quantum (Netherlands), which recently raised €15 million in Series A funding to build universal single-photon-based systems. However, the scale of PsiQuantum’s fundraising and its partnership ecosystem places it significantly ahead.

Competitive positioning

PsiQuantum’s approach can be seen as betting on manufacturability:

• Where superconducting and ion-trap systems may hit physical limits, photonics leverages existing semiconductor infrastructure to scale.

• Where neutral atoms are still exploratory, photonics has already achieved mature integration and chip-scale systems.

The company’s integration of barium titanate (BTO) as an electro-optic material represents a breakthrough others have not matched, potentially positioning PsiQuantum to solve the optical switch bottleneck that has long hindered photonic architectures.

The NVIDIA factor

PsiQuantum’s partnership with NVIDIA adds a crucial dimension. By working on GPU–QPU integration and hybrid quantum-classical workflows, PsiQuantum gains early access to the AI ecosystem, where demand for advanced compute is exploding. This positions it uniquely at the intersection of quantum and AI, a space where hardware innovation could unlock entirely new applications.

Regional perspectives

• United States: Home to PsiQuantum, IBM, Google, IonQ, and Atom Computing, making it the most competitive quantum market.

• Europe: Strong players like IQM (Finland), Pasqal (France), and QuiX Quantum (Netherlands) position the continent as a hub for neutral atoms and photonics.

• Asia: China’s quantum programs focus heavily on superconducting and photonic systems, with significant state backing.

PsiQuantum’s choice of Brisbane and Chicago for utility-scale sites reflects not only strategic government partnerships but also its bid to establish a geographically diversified footprint in quantum infrastructure.

The trillion-dollar prize

Analysts estimate that fault-tolerant quantum computing could unlock trillions in economic value by solving problems classical supercomputers cannot:

• Drug discovery through accurate quantum simulations of molecular interactions.

• Next-generation materials for clean energy, aerospace, and semiconductors.

• Financial optimization for global risk management.

• Logistics and transportation models at planetary scale.

PsiQuantum’s competitors are all pursuing this prize, but its focus on industrial scalability, not just laboratory demonstration, could give it an advantage in crossing the threshold from theory to utility.

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