Insider Brief
- NVIDIA is reportedly in advanced talks to invest in PsiQuantum as part of a $750 million funding round led by BlackRock, marking its first direct investment in quantum hardware and potentially valuing the company at nearly $6 billion.
- PsiQuantum aims to build a million-qubit photonic quantum computer by 2028 using chips manufactured on a commercial-scale CMOS line at GlobalFoundries, with recent technical progress detailed in Nature.
- The potential investment aligns with NVIDIA’s broader quantum strategy, which includes simulation software, hybrid system frameworks, and public-private research initiatives in response to limits in classical computing performance.
Well, that was a quick 20 years…
NVIDIA is reportedly in advanced talks to invest in photonic quantum computing startup PsiQuantum, a move that would mark the chipmaker’s first direct bet on hardware qubits and signal a shift in its long-term outlook for the field, according to multiple media sources.
If finalized, the deal would fold NVIDIA into a $750 million funding round currently led by BlackRock, potentially valuing PsiQuantum near $6 billion — double the Palo Alto firm’s valuation during its $450 million Series D in 2021, reports The Information and Reuters. For NVIDIA, the rumored investment extends an ongoing pivot toward quantum computing that includes its cuQuantum software development kit, the QODA hybrid system framework, and a new quantum research lab opened in Boston earlier this year.
PsiQuantum, founded by physicists from the University of Bristol, has drawn attention for its ambitious plan to build a million-qubit fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2028. The firm’s chips are fabricated at GlobalFoundries using standard 300-millimeter semiconductor processes, making PsiQuantum the only company reportedly building photonic qubits in a commercial-scale CMOS fab line. The fabrication process, normally used for mobile and automotive chips, enables high-yield manufacturing of PsiQuantum’s photonic integrated circuits — key to its scalability claims, reports R&D World.
The rumored stake would also help NVIDIA position itself in a growing market for post-classical computation, as the limits of Moore’s Law increasingly squeeze performance gains from traditional transistor scaling. While NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang previously suggested practical quantum computers might remain decades away, the firm has quietly expanded its presence in quantum tech, most recently by taking a minority stake in quantum-inspired software company SandboxAQ, a spinout from Alphabet.
NVIDIA’s potential bet on PsiQuantum comes as the latter shows technical progress toward building a viable system. In a 2025 Nature paper, PsiQuantum reported achieving ultra-low-loss silicon nitride waveguides, a major milestone in photonic quantum computing, R&D World reports. The company demonstrated propagation losses under 0.1 decibels per centimeter, a level of performance that reduces one of the most significant challenges in photonic systems: maintaining qubit coherence as photons travel through waveguides and components. The paper also details a modular architecture supporting key operations such as qubit generation, manipulation, networking, and measurement.
PsiQuantum is also gaining support from several public-backed initiatives. The state of Illinois has committed over $500 million to develop a quantum campus on Chicago’s South Side, where PsiQuantum will be a key tenant. The investment aligns with broader U.S. efforts to maintain leadership in emerging quantum technologies and counter rising competition from China and Europe. Last year, Australia announced a $940 million — or about $617 million US — investment in PsiQuantum for a project to build the world’s first commercially viable quantum computer in Brisbane.
For NVIDIA, the move would not just be a vote of confidence for quantum, but, broadly, would show that the company is deepening its role in shaping the next generation of computing infrastructure. While the company’s graphics processing units (GPUs) remain the main driver of AI technology, future workloads in optimization, chemistry, and secure communication may eventually require quantum acceleration. By placing a bet on PsiQuantum now, the company could be positioning itself to extend its dominance into the quantum era — should the technology, against Huang’s predictions, deliver on its promise.
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