Australian Tech Firm Outlines Plan to Fit Millions of Quantum Bits on a Single Chip

2026-08-26 companies

Sydney, Thursday, 27 August 2026.
Quantum computing company Diraq unveiled a roadmap to pack millions of qubits onto a single silicon chip using existing chip-making infrastructure, targeting system costs under $1 per qubit.

Silicon Roadmap Unveiled

Quantum computing pioneer Diraq released a technical white paper on 26 August 2026 detailing a roadmap to achieve utility-scale quantum computing by packing millions of spin qubits onto a single silicon chip [1]. The Sydney-based company, which maintains U.S. operations in Palo Alto, aims to drastically lower production costs by leveraging existing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing infrastructure [1]. This approach targets integration into enterprise data centers, representing a critical milestone toward scalable commercial quantum deployment for technology leadership and corporate strategists [1]. The white paper, titled “The Case for Silicon,” outlines how silicon spin qubits and CMOS-compatible semiconductor technology offer a path to millions of qubits on a single chip [1]. Industry observers note this strategy distinguishes Diraq from competitors relying on custom fabrication, emphasizing manufacturability through existing semiconductor chip-fabrication lines [3].

Scaling Targets and Economics

Diraq is targeting 150,000 physical qubits and up to 1,000 logical qubits by 2029, with goals expanding to over 2 million physical qubits and over 10,000 logical qubits on a single silicon chip by 2031 [1]. This trajectory represents a percentage increase in physical qubit capacity of 1233.333 between the 2029 and 2031 milestones [1]. To support this scale, the company aims for a total system cost of less than $1 per qubit at scale and is designing fault-tolerant quantum processing units to integrate with standard data centre infrastructure [1]. The roadmap identifies four simultaneous requirements for utility-scale quantum computing: scalability, economics, deployability, and power [1]. Andrew Dzurak, CEO and founder of Diraq, stated that scaling quantum computing requires solving for physics, engineering, and economics simultaneously, asserting silicon is the only platform that answers all three [1].

Leveraging Existing Infrastructure

Diraq utilizes silicon spin qubits stored in modified silicon transistors, enabling production on standard 300mm industrial CMOS lines [3]. The company maintains strategic partnerships with NVIDIA, Dell Technologies, GlobalFoundries, and imec to support this manufacturing strategy [1]. In November 2025, Diraq advanced to Stage B of the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, competing alongside eleven other companies including IBM and IonQ [3]. On 21 May 2026, Diraq signed a letter of intent with the US Department of Commerce for up to USD 38 million in CHIPS Act funding to scale domestic quantum processor manufacturing and integration [3]. This funding supports the company’s differentiation from competitors like Intel, which owns its own fabrication facilities, whereas Diraq relies on partners like GlobalFoundries for production [3].

Strategic Expansion Across the Pacific

Diraq officially opened a U.S. Technology Hub in Santa Monica, California, on 25 August 2026, which currently employs a 20-person multi-disciplinary team focused on silicon spin-qubit quantum computing [2]. The company intends to double the headcount of the Santa Monica hub within the next 12 months and is targeting its first product launch in 2029 [2]. Concurrently, Diraq opened temporary facilities at mHUB in Chicago as part of the On-Ramp program during the week of 25 August 2026 [5]. These expansions complement the company’s global headquarters in Sydney, Australia, and support a roadmap toward utility-scale quantum computing with the launch of its first commercial product scheduled for 2029 [2]. The timing of these announcements aligns with broader industry movements, such as IBM’s acquisition of HRL Laboratories completed on 26 August 2026, highlighting intensified competition in the sector [6].

Sources

Quantum Computing Silicon Chips