IonQ Completes Acquisition of Nexus Photonics, Securing Scalable Manufacturing for Quantum Systems

Expands IonQ's merchant supplier offerings with the industry's first dedicated quantum photonics foundry capability at SkyWater

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Sept. 10, 2026 -- IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world's leading quantum platform company, has announced its acquisition of Nexus Photonics, a UC Santa Barbara spin-off specializing in heterogeneously integrated photonics. The acquisition provides IonQ with a foundational technology for the miniaturization and mass manufacturing of quantum systems, solving a major bottleneck across the quantum industry.

Historically, quantum technologies, particularly networks and sensors, have relied on highly sensitive, discrete optical hardware-such as benchtop lasers and free-space beam paths-that dominate the size, weight, power consumption, and cost of finished instruments. Nexus Photonics solves this issue by fusing microscopic, ultra-thin layers of specialized light-emitting materials directly onto standard chip bases. It allows them to seamlessly combine different optical technologies onto a single computer chip.

This breakthrough process replaces manually assembled optics with millimeter-scale photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that require no post-assembly alignment, can be mass-produced at wafer scale, and cover the critical 400 nm to 1700+ nm wavelength spectrum required by quantum systems.

During IonQ's second quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Aug. 5, IonQ Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi detailed the strategic importance of the deal.

"Nexus brings foundational technologies that enable chip scale integration of lasers, modulators and optical subsystems for the miniaturization and mass manufacture of quantum systems. We have already begun integrating these solutions into our next-generation atomic clocks and gravimeters (inertial sensors). For quantum networking, these integrated photonics capabilities move us closer to data center scale distributed quantum systems."

He continued, "We plan to supply these critical integrated components to the broader quantum ecosystem as part of the industry's first dedicated quantum photonics foundry offering at SkyWater. As the cornerstone quantum merchant supplier across the U.S. and allied landscape, IonQ has the procedures in place to protect our customers' IP and can assure them of a partnership focused on accelerating their roadmaps."

Beyond advancing IonQ's own roadmap, the acquisition will expand the capabilities available to external quantum customers through the newly launched SkyWater Quantum Solutions business. Nexus's differentiated photonics IP and system-level expertise will significantly enrich SkyWater's long-standing custom photonic-integration and manufacturing foundation, giving customers a more direct path from quantum-system requirements to scalable integrated photonic solutions.

Terms and details of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world's leading quantum platform and foundry - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ's newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems. Earlier systems have helped customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve a 20x performance increase over previous quantum solutions and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations across North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. Our quantum computing services have been available through all major cloud providers since 2021, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before. Learn more at IonQ.com.

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Note to Investors Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this news release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our supply of Nexus Photonics's products and our partnerships with our customers. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "pending," "look forward," "accelerate," "anticipate," "expect," "suggest," "plan," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "target," "project," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "forecast," "confident," "position," "become," "on track," "ensure," "ongoing" and other similar expressions. These statements are only predictions based on our expectations and projections about future events as of the date of this news release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may prove incorrect, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, among others, those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can management assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement we make. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

Except as otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

IonQ Media contacts:

Cheryl [email protected]

Tor [email protected]

IonQ Investor Contact:

[email protected]

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