That work by state officials and stakeholders led to Lujan Grisham announcing Tuesday the state's newest partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to develop the Quantum Frontier Project as part of the defense agency's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative — which aims to accelerate the development, testing and validation of emerging quantum technologies.
The partnership could see DARPA and New Mexico provide up to $60 million each over four years to efforts that directly support the federal agency's initiative or the project itself, officials said.
"There are those moments in time when you think back and say, 'Wow, where was I on that day?' This is going to be one of those days for New Mexico," Economic Development Department Secretary Rob Black said at the Tuesday press conference hosted at Roadrunner Venture Studios in Albuquerque. "This will be a transformative opportunity for our state."
The Tuesday announcement comes as the state, over the past several months, has worked toward building a quantum ecosystem aimed at drawing private and federal dollars to New Mexico, which officials believe can help boost the economy.
Just last week, Albuquerque-based Roadrunner Venture Studios was awarded $25 million as part of the EDD's new state-funded quantum innovation and commercialization project, aimed at boosting the number of quantum startups in the state. Albuquerque is also currently hosting this year's Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Quantum Week conference, where state officials on Monday — including Black and Lujan Grisham — hinted at a "bold, new era" for quantum technologies in New Mexico.
"Certifying and proving out concepts means economic activity that can be not just in the hundreds of billions, but over generations, can be trillions of dollars into our economy," Lujan Grisham said. "It means that America is winning the tech race, which we must do globally."
Joe Altepeter, DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative program manager, who has been a quantum computing researcher for over 25 years, recalled the start of his journey at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
"We used to have a joke in quantum computing that you weren't allowed to be a quantum computing expert unless you had spent at least two years at Los Alamos at some point in your life. It really was that important to the whole space," Altepeter told the Journal.
The Quantum Frontier Project will leverage state universities, private-sector innovators like Roadrunner and others, and national laboratories to expand research, engineering and testing efforts.
"One of the things that's most exciting about working with the state is they share DARPA's desire to be agile and to say, 'Let's transform this into whatever it needs to succeed at the mission,'" Altepeter said. "I don't think we know exactly what it's going to look like, because we're going to make it into whatever it takes to succeed."
Altepeter noted that in the partnership structure, DARPA and New Mexico will only spend money where it makes sense, specifically if it has a chance to make a "transformative difference."
"The common thread is that all of those projects are going to help us do better at this primary mission of understanding if, and exactly how, quantum computing is going to make the world a better place," Altepeter said.
DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative began in July 2024 to see whether it's possible to build useful quantum computers faster than conventional predictions, according to its website. Similar partnerships are with Illinois through the Quantum Proving Ground program and Maryland with the Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub.
More than a dozen companies are taking part in the initiative, from international groups in the United Kingdom and Canada to powerhouses like IBM. Those companies will pursue a variety of technologies for creating quantum bits, or qubits, which are the building blocks for quantum computers.
Whereas traditional computers use bits, quantum computers use qubits to perform calculations based on quantum mechanic principles, which can solve problems much faster and can help, for instance, researchers with quicker drug discovery and businesses with optimizing logistics.
Public and private officials have already made big strides in bringing quantum-oriented companies to New Mexico, seeking federal and state funds that could boost the research and development of quantum technologies.
Colorado -based Quantinuum outlined plans in July to build a research and development facility in Albuquerque. And in April, Mesa Quantum, also out of Colorado, announced that it would set up shop in New Mexico for at least two years to develop laser systems needed for quantum sensing applications.
Elevate Quantum's Quantum Moonshot initiative was also named a semifinalist in the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program, which could mean $15 million in funding over two years and up to $160 million over 10 years to make breakthroughs in and commercialize quantum navigation, sensing and computing technologies.
Roadrunner CEO Adam Hammer told the Journal Tuesday that while this partnership is step one in becoming a leading quantum tech hub, the state is starting with a "bang, not a whisper."
The venture studio prides itself on being a leader in commercializing the most "disruptive" science and technology and building businesses out of it, Hammer said. Partnering with entrepreneurs and companies, he said Roadrunner's ultimate goal is to create venture-backable startups that will be based and headquartered in New Mexico.
Uniquely a state that boasts multiple national defense labs and has one of the largest concentrations of Ph.D.s per capita in the nation, Lujan Grisham said New Mexico has long been known as a "place of innovation."
"If you're looking to create it, invent it, demonstrate that it works and engage in building new ideas that will solve the world's problems," Lujan Grisham said, "this is the state to be doing that work in."
©2025 the Albuquerque Journal, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
