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Diraq announced on Oct. 8, 2026, that it has advanced to Stage C, the final stage of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. DARPA’s independent team is to examine the company’s silicon-based system design, performance and manufacturing economics; Diraq says an initial $51 million tranche will support work over the next year.
Diraq announced Oct. 8 that it has advanced to Stage C, the final stage of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, putting its silicon-based quantum-computing approach up for further independent evaluation. The company said an initial $51 million funding tranche will support the next year of technical demonstrations, system development and research infrastructure.
In Stage C, Diraq will work with DARPA’s independent verification and validation team to assess its system design and performance, along with critical capabilities needed for utility-scale operation. The source report describes the evaluation as covering manufacturing economics as well as technical performance. DARPA’s initiative is intended to examine whether quantum-computing approaches can reach utility scale by 2033; the source defines that threshold as solving problems whose value exceeds the cost of building and operating the machine.
Diraq said it will deliver a series of technical demonstrations, system updates and design activities over the coming months. The work is intended to test capabilities required for a future fault-tolerant platform and to expand specialized research and testing facilities. The company said the initial $51 million tranche will fund its next year of progress, but the source does not specify the total value of its Stage C award or provide a detailed schedule for each demonstration.
The move follows Diraq’s completion of Stage B, during which it developed a research and development plan, identified technical risks and described mitigation strategies and prototypes. Diraq also points to earlier work on high-fidelity silicon spin qubits made using an industrial 300mm CMOS-compatible process and an eight-qubit array fabricated with the same process. Those are company-reported milestones; Stage C is the next opportunity for outside review of its plans and capabilities.
How Stage C Tests Diraq’s Scale-Up Case
The advancement puts Diraq’s proposed route to larger quantum computers into a phase where independent evaluation is central. Silicon spin qubits made with processes compatible with conventional chip production could, if the approach performs as intended, draw on existing manufacturing infrastructure. But compatibility alone does not establish that a system can be produced economically or scaled while maintaining the performance needed for useful computation.
That is why the assessment matters beyond the company’s announcement. DARPA’s program is framed around whether quantum systems can reach utility-scale operation, rather than whether a company can demonstrate a small device or set a distant target. For readers, Stage C marks a move from Diraq’s stated development plan toward a series of technical and design checks. The result could inform judgments about the feasibility of its approach, though the announcement itself does not report a Stage C finding.
Diraq has put forward ambitious milestones: it says it aims for 150,000 qubits by 2029 and utility scale by 2031, with more than two million physical qubits on a single chip. Those dates and figures are company goals, not outcomes established by DARPA’s Stage C review. The distinction matters: advancement into the stage is confirmation of selection, not confirmation that the company has met its future targets or that its system will reach commercial utility.
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From Stage B Plans to Final Review
DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative is designed to assess whether quantum-computing technologies can reach utility scale by 2033. Diraq says Stage C is the program’s final stage and that its independent evaluators will examine both the technical system and the capabilities needed to build and operate at scale. The source material does not describe the full selection process, the other participants, or the criteria and scoring used for advancement.
Before this announcement, Diraq completed Stage B by preparing its development plan, including identified risks, ways to mitigate them and prototypes intended to reduce uncertainty. The company’s manufacturing argument rests on using silicon spin qubits and a 300mm CMOS-compatible process, rather than relying on entirely new fabrication methods. That is Diraq’s stated rationale; the Stage C evaluation is where design and economics are to be examined, not proof that the manufacturing case has already been validated.
The report also notes Diraq’s plans to deploy a silicon spin quantum computer in a shared commercial data centre with Equinix in Sydney before the end of 2026. Separately, Diraq has said it received a U.S. Department of Commerce letter of intent for $38 million under the CHIPS and Science Act. These developments provide company and U.S. expansion context, but the source does not say they form part of DARPA’s Stage C decision.
“Advancing to Stage C of the QBI program represents a crucial independent validation that our path to utility-scale quantum computing holds up under rigorous technical scrutiny.”
— Andrew Dzurak, Diraq founder and CEO
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Questions Before Stage C Results
The announcement does not give the evaluation timetable, the specific benchmarks DARPA will apply, or when results are expected. It also does not identify the other approaches being assessed in this stage or explain how DARPA will compare them. Those details are needed to judge what a successful review would mean beyond continued participation.
The funding figure also needs careful framing: Diraq says it will receive an initial $51 million tranche to support the next year, but the source does not state the total funding commitment, payment conditions or whether later tranches depend on particular results. Nor does the announcement provide independent verification of Diraq’s projected qubit counts, 2031 utility-scale target or manufacturing-cost estimates.
It remains unclear what technical demonstrations will be public, what measurements will be disclosed and whether DARPA will issue a formal report. Diraq’s Stage C selection is confirmed by its announcement, while conclusions about its system’s performance and economics remain to be established through the review.
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Demonstrations and DARPA Evaluation
Diraq says it will carry out technical demonstrations, system updates and design work over the coming months while expanding research and testing infrastructure. DARPA’s independent team is expected to assess the system design, performance and capabilities relevant to utility-scale operation. No dates for individual reviews or a final Stage C decision were provided in the source material.
The next information to watch for is what the demonstrations measure, whether results are made public and whether DARPA reports findings on manufacturability and cost. Diraq’s planned Equinix deployment in Sydney before the end of 2026 is another stated milestone, but the source does not link that deployment to a DARPA evaluation outcome. Until the review produces disclosed results, the company’s scale-up schedule remains a target rather than a verified result.
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Key Questions
What has Diraq announced?
Diraq said it advanced to Stage C, the final stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, for evaluation of its silicon-based quantum-computing approach.
What will DARPA evaluate?
The source says DARPA’s independent verification and validation team will assess Diraq’s system design and performance and capabilities needed for utility-scale operation. The review is also described as addressing manufacturing economics.
What does the $51 million cover?
Diraq says an initial $51 million tranche will support its next year of work, including technical demonstrations, development of its fault-tolerant platform and research infrastructure. The total possible award and any later funding terms were not specified.
Does Stage C mean Diraq has achieved utility scale?
No. Advancement means Diraq has been selected for the final evaluation stage. Its utility-scale timetable and qubit-count milestones are company targets, not results established by this announcement.
When will the review results be known?
The source does not give a date for a final evaluation or public results. Diraq says demonstrations and related work will take place over the coming months.
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