The U.S. Department of Energy on September 17, 2026 opened the Quantum Genesis Q Competition, a $215 million push to deliver a first-generation fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer (SRQC) by 2028. Up to 10 teams will win Phase 1 awards, and the survivors will compete for a $100 million prototype pool.
How the competition is structured
Applicants have roughly one year from the start to deliver a prototype capable of at least 10 logical qubits performing 10³ hard operations. Successful Phase 1 teams (up to $1.5 million each, with $250,000 available upfront) then compete for Phase 2 incentive money on the way to a final delivery in fall 2028 requiring 100 logical qubits performing 10⁵ hard operations with fault tolerance. Total anticipated funding across both phases is up to $215 million, subject to congressional appropriations.
Who is likely to compete
The specifications map neatly onto architectures being developed by QuEra Computing, which has demonstrated systems using up to 96 logical qubits and is planning a Libra machine at 256+ logical qubits for 2028, and by PsiQuantum, which is already collaborating with Brookhaven on the same initiative through its Construct fault-tolerant algorithm platform. IBM, IonQ, Quantinuum, Rigetti and Atom Computing are also plausible bidders.
Part of a broader Genesis Mission
Quantum Genesis Q Competition is one element of the DoE's Genesis Mission, which also coordinates quantum work across Argonne, Brookhaven and Lawrence Livermore. The RFA is available at grants.gov (opportunity 05ea4b35-7c9b-45a7-98cb-7579ac2c0b19).
What it signals
The 2028 deadline is unusually aggressive for federal quantum programs, and it puts logical-qubit throughput — not raw physical-qubit count — at the center of what "quantum advantage" means for U.S. policy. Analogous moves by Anyon Computing on real-time control and NVIDIA's CUDA-Q Logical release suggest the ecosystem is coalescing around the same target.
Reporting based on coverage from The Register and DoE grant documentation.