Think Tank Questions Government’s Near $1 Billion Bet on Quantum Computer

The Commonwealth and Queensland governments have commited almost a billion dollars to quantum computing start-up PsiQuantum.

A view of a PsiQuantum Wafer, a silicon wafer containing thousands of quantum devices, including single-photon detectors, manufactured via PsiQuantum's partnership with GlobalFoundries in Palo Alto, California, U.S., in an undated photo taken in March 2021. PsiQuantum/Handout via Reuters

An Australian think tank has criticised the decision by the Commonwealth and Queensland governments to commit almost $1 billion (US$653 million) to a start-up company developing a quantum computer.

The business was singled out by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in his pre-Budget address to the Lowy Institute yesterday to highlight the federal government investment strategy under the Future Made in Australia Act.