Intel to buy quantum software firm Classiq in reported $2.2 billion deal

Intel announced on October 26, 2026 that it has agreed to buy Classiq, a quantum computing software company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Intel did not disclose the price, but business reports put the deal at about $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion, which would make it the largest acquisition so far in the quantum computing industry. Intel said the purchase is meant to turn its Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum business, combining Classiq's software with the silicon spin-qubit chips Intel is developing. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals, and the two companies will run separately until then.

A quantum computer works with qubits, units of information that can hold a mix of 0 and 1 at the same time, rather than the plain 0 or 1 of an ordinary computer bit. In theory this lets such machines solve some problems, such as simulating molecules for new drugs and materials, or certain optimisation and finance calculations, far faster than today's computers. In practice, the machines remain small and error-prone, and writing programs for them is slow, specialist work done gate by gate, the quantum equivalent of writing in machine code.

Classiq's product tackles that last problem. Its platform lets a developer describe what a program should do in high-level terms, and the software then generates, or "synthesises", an optimised quantum circuit for a particular machine. Minerbi has said the company's aim is to make quantum computing usable by developers who do not have deep circuit-design expertise. That is why large banks, carmakers and consultancies have been testing it, long before quantum computers are ready for daily business use.

For Intel, the deal is a bet on the long game. Intel's quantum research has focused on spin qubits, which store information in single electrons held in silicon, a design that can be made with methods close to those used for ordinary chips. Other companies are building quantum machines on different designs. By owning a popular software layer that already works across many types of machine, Intel gains a direct relationship with the developers and enterprises that will eventually buy quantum computing time. Reports describe this as Intel's second-largest acquisition, after its purchase of Mobileye.

The size of the price matters too. Classiq's 2025 funding round was reported to value it at roughly $600 million to $700 million, so Intel is reportedly paying around three times that, a sign that its leadership sees quantum software as a future market worth paying for now. Because Lip-Bu Tan was a personal investor in Classiq before he became Intel's chief executive, the deal is also likely to draw questions on how that interest was handled.

Short-term: Nothing changes for Classiq's customers until the deal closes; Intel says the two companies stay independent until then and that Classiq's support for other hardware will continue. Regulators in the US, Israel and elsewhere will review the transaction.

Long-term: If the deal closes, Intel will offer quantum chips and the software to program them under one roof. That could make Intel a stronger contender in a market where software ecosystems often decide which hardware wins. It also raises the value of other quantum software start-ups, which may now attract interest from large chipmakers and cloud companies.

Who is affected: Classiq's staff and investors; enterprises testing quantum applications, including banks and manufacturers; rival quantum hardware makers that rely on Classiq's software; and Indian companies and researchers building quantum skills under the government's National Quantum Mission, for whom the main tools of the field are now increasingly owned by large chipmakers.

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