IonQ Inc. (NYSE: IONQ), a developer of trapped-ion quantum systems, said it has advanced to Stage B of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), deepening its involvement in shaping national standards for utility-scale quantum computing.
The selection follows IonQ’s completion of Stage A, during which the company outlined its technical concept for utility-scale performance. Stage B will focus on developing a research and development roadmap through 2033, detailing technical specifications and system designs needed for large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
“We’re honored to be selected for Stage B of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative,” said Niccolo de Masi, IonQ’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “With commercial systems already available on major cloud platforms, IonQ is positioned to offer practical insights that advance both national security and economic competitiveness.”
DARPA’s QBI program is structured into three phases: concept definition (Stage A), roadmap development (Stage B), and system validation (Stage C). The initiative aims to establish a unified framework for assessing quantum performance and accelerating the transition from lab-scale research to deployable computing architectures.
IonQ’s inclusion underscores its growing influence in the U.S. quantum ecosystem. In June, the company unveiled an accelerated roadmap targeting 2 million physical qubits and 80,000 logical qubits by 2030. It also reported a record 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity and achieved an algorithmic qubit benchmark (#AQ) of 64 on its IonQ Tempo system, three months ahead of schedule.
The company is pursuing applications across pharmaceuticals, logistics, automotive safety, and energy grid optimization, while maintaining partnerships with all three major cloud providers.
