Pentagon loses pressure campaign to restrict quantum merger
A top Defense Department official had urged the head of the Federal Trade Commission to put guardrails around the $2 billion acquisition of Skywater, but the antitrust vote failed, people familiar with the matter said.
The Pentagon's attempt to restrict a $2 billion quantum computing and chip manufacturing merger ultimately failed when the Federal Trade Commission allowed IonQ to acquire SkyWater without the usual conditions for competition, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Pentagon's undersecretary for research and engineering, Emil Michael, had privately pushed for restrictions on the deal, fearing it would hinder US government investments in quantum computing companies and limit access to SkyWater's specialized chips.
However, FTC Commissioner Mark Meador, a Republican, ruled that the merger was procompetitive or competitively neutral and thus did not warrant the restrictions the Pentagon sought. The FTC has only two commissioners following the firing of two Democratic members by President Trump, resulting in a deadlocked agency that allowed IonQ to proceed with the acquisition on Friday without adhering to the FTC's conditions.
The Pentagon has invested over $625 million in quantum research, including taking stakes in quantum companies and providing $2 billion in incentives for domestic quantum-chip factories, but the completion of this deal signals a notable setback for the Pentagon's efforts to maintain control over critical technologies in the US.
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