ALBUQUERQUE — Diraq, an Australia-founded quantum computing company, today announced plans to establish a new research and development laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in another boost to the momentum of the state's growing quantum ecosystem.
Diraq has signed a memorandum of understanding to establish operations at the Roadrunner Quantum Lab (RQL), powered by the State of New Mexico, a joint effort of Roadrunner Venture Studios and the New Mexico Technology and Innovation Office (TIO). Roadrunner Quantum Lab is a shared facility giving quantum startups, industry partners and national laboratories space to accelerate the development and commercialization of quantum technologies. Diraq's space will include Maybell cryogenic equipment that supports device characterization and other research and development activities. Diraq's lab is expected to begin operations by the end of the year.
The State of New Mexico is supporting Diraq's expansion into the state as part of its partnership with DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a federal initiative to verify and validate utility-scale quantum computing. Diraq is a QBI performer currently in Stage B of the program, and the state's matching funds are helping to build equipment and infrastructure in the state quantum ecosystem that will enable Diraq's lab operations in New Mexico.
"Roadrunner Quantum Lab is focused on bringing quantum computing to market and their commitment to commercialization closely mirrors our own at Diraq," said Andrew Dzurak, Diraq founder and CEO. "We're building quantum computing processors based on silicon because that's the most economical and scalable way to reach the many millions of qubits that our customers will require. New Mexico's investment in RQL demonstrates a strong commitment to building a world-class quantum ecosystem, and we're excited to establish a team in Albuquerque that will help accelerate our progress toward utility-scale quantum computing."
Diraq will establish a dedicated measurement engineering team in Albuquerque, adding specialized U.S.-based capability in quantum device testing and characterization, with further growth planned as operations scale. The New Mexico lab will complement Diraq's existing U.S. operations in Palo Alto, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as its research and engineering centers in Australia.
"Diraq's decision to build here is more proof that New Mexico has the talent, the labs and the infrastructure quantum companies need to go from research to real-world scale," said TIO Director Nora Meyers Sackett. "We're proud to back this expansion and continue growing a quantum ecosystem that's attracting the most cutting-edge companies in the world to New Mexico."
"We're excited to welcome Diraq to the Roadrunner Quantum Lab as the company expands its U.S. research and development capabilities," said David Kistin, director of the Roadrunner Quantum Lab. "Diraq's measurement engineering team will add another technical dimension to the work taking place at RQL and create new opportunities for collaboration across the facility — supporting New Mexico's continued growth as a center for quantum research and development."
Diraq is developing quantum computers using silicon spin qubits, which are built with the same CMOS manufacturing processes used to make today's computer chips. Because this approach builds on the established semiconductor industry, it offers a promising path to producing quantum chips at scale in systems designed to be cost-effective and fit within existing data center infrastructure.
Scale is one of the field's central challenges, since useful, utility-scale quantum computers are expected to need millions of qubits. Diraq's roadmap targets 150,000 physical qubits on a single chip by 2029 and more than 2 million by 2031. Pursuing these ambitious goals advances the aims of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) to bring utility-scale quantum computing within reach by 2033.
