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Intel said Monday it has agreed to acquire Classiq, a Tel Aviv-based maker of quantum computing software, in a deal meant to give the chipmaker a complete quantum computing product from chips to programs.
Intel did not disclose a price in its announcement. Media reports have put the deal at more than $2 billion, which would make it one of the largest acquisitions of an Israeli technology company by a U.S. firm. The companies said the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Until then the two will operate separately.
What Classiq does
Quantum computers use the physics of very small particles to solve certain problems that ordinary computers handle slowly, and they come in several competing hardware designs. Classiq’s software lets developers describe what they want a quantum program to do and then builds the detailed instructions for whichever machine runs it, without requiring deep knowledge of quantum circuits. Intel compared that role to the design software that transformed conventional chip making decades ago.
Intel has invested in quantum computing since 2015 and says it is the only company that can produce both qubit chips, the basic units of a quantum computer, and the complex cryogenic control electronics at scale using standard semiconductor manufacturing. The combination would let Intel offer what it calls a full-stack quantum platform and add quantum processors to a lineup that already includes central, graphics and specialized chips.
What Intel says happens next
“Joining forces with Classiq transforms Intel’s Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business,” Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said in the release. Intel said it plans to keep supporting Classiq’s existing integrations with other platforms and to keep the software independent of any particular hardware, so that it keeps working with other makers’ quantum machines. Classiq co-founder and CEO Nir Minerbi said the two companies can speed up adoption of the technology.
JBizNews Desk | Santa Clara and Tel Aviv
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