By Mackenzie Tatananni
Rigetti Computing has announced the general availability of its most powerful quantum computer to date, rounding off months of uncertainty.
The Berkeley, California-based company in January delayed the release of its next-generation Cepheus-1-108Q system, saying it needed to make more progress on the technical front. The release of the system, roughly in line with Rigetti's adjusted timeline -- the company was targeting the end of the first quarter -- clears up a months-long overhang on the stock.
Shares jumped 7.9% in premarket trading Wednesday, outpacing a 3.5% gain for tech-heavy Nasdaq futures. Pure play peers IonQ and D-Wave Quantum advanced 7.2% and 10%, respectively, as stocks rallied on a two-week cease-fire agreement in Iran.
Cepheus-1-108Q is available to customers and partners through Rigetti's quantum cloud platform as well as through Amazon Braket, the quantum computing cloud service by Amazon Web Services.
The work isn't over. Rigetti has indicated it plans to hone its technology in the coming months, saying it expects the latest Cepheus system to reach a median 99.5% two-qubit gate fidelity -- essentially, a measure of quality -- later this year.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
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April 08, 2026 07:32 ET (11:32 GMT)
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