Rigetti Computing, Inc. Reports  Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results

Insider Brief

• Rigetti Computing reported revealed a net loss of $12.6 million and an operating loss of $17.2 million for the last quarter in its fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial report.
• Total revenues reaching $3.4 million during this period.
• Cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities totaled $99.9 million as of December 31, 2023.

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI) announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the entire year ending December 31, 2023, according to a company news release. The company revealed a net loss of $12.6 million and an operating loss of $17.2 million for the fourth quarter, with total revenues reaching $3.4 million during this period. Over the entire year, Rigetti reported a net loss of $75.1 million, an operating loss of $72.3 million, and total revenues of $12.0 million.

Rigetti reports that its financial position remains robust, with cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale securities totaling $99.9 million as of December 31, 2023. The company’s operating expenses for the fourth quarter amounted to $19.7 million, contributing to the total annual operating expenses of $81.5 million.

Rigetti Computing, Inc. is renowned for its pioneering work in developing full-stack quantum-classical computing capabilities. The company is dedicated to leading the advancement of the next generation of computing technology and solutions.

For more detailed information, interested parties are encouraged to contact Rigetti Computing, Inc.’s Investor Relations team.

This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements reflect Rigetti’s current expectations concerning future events and financial performance. The company cautions readers that actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.

Business Updates

The news release also covered a list of company highlights for last quarter and for 2023.

Wins Innovate UK Competition to Deliver 24-Qubit Quantum Computing System to NQCC
In February 2024, Rigetti was awarded a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) grant from Innovate UK and funded by the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to develop and deliver a quantum computer to the NQCC. As part of the project, Rigetti proposes to develop and deploy a 24-qubit quantum computer based on the Company’s Ankaa-class architecture. The proposed system is planned to be deployed at NQCC’s Harwell Campus, which is expected to open later this year and will serve as NQCC’s landmark facility to support quantum computing research in the UK.

“Since deploying our first UK-based quantum computer in 2022, we have had the privilege of collaborating with the UK’s talented quantum computing research community. We believe building a system at the NQCC could enable even more innovative discoveries to deepen our understanding of how to improve superconducting quantum computers with the goal of solving practical problems currently intractable by classical resources alone,” said Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, Rigetti CEO.

On-Premise QPU Capabilities Mature with Novera QPU Launch
In December 2023, Rigetti launched the Novera QPU (quantum processing unit), a 9-qubit QPU based on the Company’s Ankaa-class chip architecture. The Novera QPU is Rigetti’s first commercially available QPU. After identifying an emerging market of researchers needing hands-on access to a quantum computer with high performing qubits, Rigetti made the strategic decision to meet the anticipated growing demand with its in-house quantum foundry capabilities and years of experience building 9-qubit QPUs for internal R&D. Rigetti designs and manufactures its QPUs at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device and manufacturing facility, located in Fremont, California. Rigetti has now completed two Novera QPU sales, both to leading national labs. The first sale was to the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) led by Fermilab in the second quarter of 2023 as part of the Company’s partnership with SQMS as its lead industry partner.

QPU Sales Grow with Delivery of Novera QPU to AFRL
In the third quarter of 2023, Rigetti delivered its second Novera QPU to the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Information Directorate as part of the Company’s Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The IDIQ contract enables AFRL to harness Rigetti’s fabrication capabilities for quantum networking hardware research and development.

“A key objective of AFRL’s Information Directorate quantum networking program is to develop interfaces between leading quantum technologies to enhance the functionality, scalability, and application space of quantum networking hardware. This includes innovating new interfaces to enable the operation of superconducting qubit platforms with telecom light,” said Matthew LaHaye, Senior Research Physicist at AFRL Information Directorate. “AFRL researchers plan to utilize the Novera QPU, in conjunction with photonic integrated circuitry, for novel investigations of light delivery and collection in the control and measurement of superconducting quantum processors. This work will entail fundamental studies of light-matter interactions and engineering of new, reduced-footprint techniques for cryogenic optical i/o,” LaHaye added.

Awarded Innovate UK Grant to Advance Quantum Machine Learning Techniques for Finance
Rigetti is continuing its efforts to develop quantum computing solutions for financial institutions. Rigetti was awarded an Innovate UK grant with the aim to develop quantum machine learning techniques to enable financial institutions to more effectively process, interpret, and make decisions with complex data streams. Joining Rigetti in this project is Amazon Web Services (AWS), Imperial College London, and Standard Chartered.

Awarded Phase 2 of DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Program
Building on the work completed in Phase 1 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking program aiming to develop a resource estimation framework to provide insight into the requirements of a superconducting quantum computing system necessary for solving large-scale, complex problems, Rigetti was awarded Phase 2, the goal of which is refining and optimizing the estimates for selected utility-scale problems, delivering new upper bounds on these requirements. Phase 2 is expected to be heavily focused on researching fault-tolerant quantum applications. Of particular interest are dynamical chemistry simulations and modeling the dynamics of quantum systems. The University of Technology Sydney, Aalto University, and the University of Southern California will continue to be project partners in Phase 2.

Partners with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Riverlane to Integrate and Benchmark Rigetti Quantum Computers with ORNL’s Summit Supercomputer
Recently, Rigetti announced that it is partnering with Riverlane and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to work to improve HPC-quantum integration. To develop the integration of quantum computers into HPC environments, the project partners plan to build the first-ever benchmarking suite for measuring the performance of a joint HPC + quantum system, to be run on ORNL’s Summit supercomputer. For the quantum components, researchers plan to use simulated hardware based on key elements of Riverlane’s quantum error correction stack and real remote hardware located at Rigetti’s headquarters in California.

Technology Roadmap and QPU Performance Milestones

Deploys 84-Qubit Ankaa-2 System with a 2.5X Increase in Error Performance
Following the internal deployment of the 84-qubit Ankaa-1 system in March 2023, Rigetti’s 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system was made publicly available in December 2023 — making it the Company’s highest qubit count QPU available to the public. In addition to the new chip architecture that features a square lattice and tunable couplers, Rigetti implemented several technology updates to the system, including a new chip fabrication process, new printed circuit board technology, and electronics improvements, that contributed to Ankaa-2 achieving a 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity — a 2.5X increase in error performance compared to the Company’s previous QPUs.

Building on Performance Success of Ankaa-2; Announces Ankaa-3 Launch Plan
The Company plans to develop and deploy its anticipated 84-qubit Ankaa-3 system with the goal of achieving a 99% median 2-qubit gate fidelity by the end of 2024, and to develop the 336-qubit Lyra system thereafter.

“We are confident in our ability to build better performing QPUs, as evidenced by our impressive Ankaa-2 performance. We believe we have laid the groundwork for building scalable, high performing QPUs with our proven modular chip architecture and the innovative Ankaa chip design that resulted in a 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity. We are excited for the anticipated development and deployment of our Ankaa-3 system, which we believe will demonstrate the excellence and ingenuity of our engineering, software, and hardware teams,” said David Rivas, Rigetti CTO.

“We believe our leadership and expertise in full-stack quantum systems paired with our strong collaborations with researchers around the world across academia, industry, and government, puts us in a unique position to tackle the challenges of building a quantum computer capable of addressing real-world problems. With Rigetti QPUs now in two research labs internationally, we are even more optimistic that practical quantum computing is in reach,” said Dr. Kulkarni.