US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick speaks at a business reception at Lancaster House in central London, with attendees including government ministers from both the UK and US and representatives from major UK companies, as part of the second state visit to the UK by US President Donald Trump. Picture date: Thursday Sept. 18, 2025.
Jordan Pettitt | Via Reuters
The U.S. government is not in talks with quantum computing companies to take equity stakes in the firms in exchange for federal funding, a Commerce Department official told CNBC.
“The Commerce Department is not currently negotiating equity stakes with quantum computing companies,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The denial comes a day after the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said that the Trump administration was in talks with companies including IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum.
During trading on Thursday, Rigetti Computing was up 7%, IonQ was up 7%, D-Wave was up 13%, and Quantum Computing was up 5%.
The Trump administration has taken equity stakes in companies in industries seen as vital to U.S. national security. In August, it took a 10% stake in Intel, the nation’s leading semiconductor manufacturer. It also took a 15% stake in MP Materials, which mines rare earth elements. China has restricted exports of rare earths.
Experts say that the U.S. government’s growing interest in taking stakes in private companies is unprecedented in recent decades, but Trump administration officials such as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have argued that the government should benefit from a company’s success, especially where federal funds are involved.
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