Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is presented on its website as an official website of the United States Government. The site states the agency's mission is "to create and prevent technological surprise for our national security." DARPA's offices page says its six technical offices execute a portfolio of research programs, challenges, and transition activities, and names the Multi X Office among those technical offices.

In quantum technology, DARPA runs the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). The QBI page says the program is designed to verify and validate whether any quantum computing approach can achieve utility-scale operation by 2033, and it provides staged funding of up to $1 million in Stage A, up to $15 million in Stage B, and up to $300 million in Stage C. The page also lists active QBI participants across stages, including Google Quantum AI, IBM, IonQ, Microsoft, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum, QuEra Computing, Xanadu, Diraq, Atom Computing, and others.