D-Wave Quantum Inc. has announced its foundational role in the newly established Q-Alliance in Lombardy, Italy. The alliance, defined in its founding Memorandum of Understanding as “The Birth of the World’s Most Powerful Quantum Hub,” is a significant development for both D-Wave’s European footprint and Italy’s national digital strategy.
Crucially, the “About” section of the release reveals that Q-Alliance is a joint initiative co-founded by D-Wave Inc. and IonQ Inc., along with independent scientists and Italian institutional authorities. This dual-vendor approach immediately positions the hub to leverage two distinct, commercial-stage quantum computing modalities: D-Wave’s annealing technology and IonQ’s trapped-ion gate-model systems.
Strategic and Geopolitical Alignment
The formation of Q-Alliance is directly tied to the Italian Government’s strategic framework for digital and quantum technologies, aligning with the policy guidelines promoted by Undersecretary of State Senator Alessio Butti.
Butti heralded the alliance not merely as a technological milestone but as a “model of open innovation and cooperation,” positioning Italy as a leader in the European quantum transition. The stated mission of the alliance is to accelerate scientific discovery, industrial transformation, and the goal of digital sovereignty for Italy.
D-Wave’s Commercial-Grade Component
For D-Wave, the alliance provides a critical European anchor for its commercialization efforts. Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, highlighted the immediate utility of the company’s established systems, stating:
“D-Wave is the only company in the world building both annealing and gate quantum computing technology. We believe D-Wave’s production-grade annealing quantum computing technology will serve as a critical component of the Q-Alliance, fueling quantum application development and adoption now.”
This quote underscores D-Wave’s strategy of utilizing its commercially mature annealing systems to drive present-day value while also developing the next generation of gate-model computers. With over 200 million problems submitted to its systems globally, D-Wave’s focus on application development and commercial use cases is likely to shape the Q-Alliance’s initial operational phase.
A Focus on Workforce Development
Beyond the hardware deployment, Q-Alliance is mandated to operate as an open ecosystem accessible to Italy’s scientific community, academia, and industry. The initiative places a strong emphasis on building the future quantum workforce, including scholarships, internships, and extensive training programs for young researchers—a necessary step to ensure the hub’s long-term sustainability and talent pipeline.
The combined political backing and the involvement of two prominent, publicly traded quantum hardware companies—each representing different technology platforms—suggests that the Q-Alliance aims to quickly become a pivotal element in Europe’s increasingly competitive quantum landscape. Its success will be a key indicator of how effectively sovereign nations can leverage commercial quantum technology to achieve national strategic goals.
Additional information about this MOU to create a quantum hub in Italy can be seen in a press release posted on the D-Wave website here.
October 14, 2025
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