Pentagon loses pressure campaign to restrict quantum merger

A $2 billion merger between a quantum computing company and a chip manufacturer became the epicenter of an unusual family spat between the FTC and the Pentagon. The Pentagon lost.

The Federal Trade Commission last week allowed IonQ to acquire US chip-maker SkyWater over the objections of a senior Pentagon official who had privately pushed for tough restrictions on the deal, largely to protect the US government's $2 billion of investments in quantum computing companies earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The US doesn't have a stake in IonQ or SkyWater.