WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department signed letters of intent on Thursday to take equity stakes worth a total of $2 billion in nine quantum computing companies, including IBM and GlobalFoundries. The letters are not final, and the administration is still soliciting proposals from other advanced technology firms.

IBM is set to receive $1 billion in equity investments, while GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million. PsiQuantum, Atom Computing, Infleqtion, Quantinuum and Rigetti are each set to receive $100 million, and Diraq will receive up to $38 million, the commerce department said. The $100 million award is the largest U.S. government award PsiQuantum has received to date.

Shares of IBM and GlobalFoundries were up more than 6 percent in pre-market trading after the announcement. D-Wave Quantum shares were up more than 20 percent.

"With today's CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. "These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities."

The Trump administration has offered grants to companies in sectors such as semiconductors and critical minerals in exchange for equity stakes. Last year, the commerce department took a 10 percent stake in Intel by converting $2.2 billion in grants under the Chips Act and $8.9 billion in federal grants that had been awarded but not yet paid. Intel is facing a shareholder lawsuit related to its deal with the U.S. government.

IonQ did not sign a letter of intent with the commerce department on Thursday. The company has attracted investment from Cerberus, which was co-founded by Stephen Feinberg, who served as deputy secretary of war under Donald Trump.

D-Wave Quantum was taken public in 2022 by Emil Michael, now a Pentagon official. PsiQuantum last year raised money from a group of investors including 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm at which Donald Trump Jr is a partner, and has sealed partnerships with both Democratic and Republican administrations. A spokesperson for Trump Jr said he had no involvement in negotiations with the government on behalf of 1789's portfolio companies.

Quantum computers exploit atomic and subatomic properties to perform complex calculations faster than existing machines, in theory. The field faces engineering hurdles such as making machines less prone to errors, and companies are still competing over which technical approaches work best.