In his Budget 2026 speech on February 12, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2030 plan, committing a record S$37 billion (approx. US$29.3 billion) over the next five years. This investment represents a 32% increase over the previous RIE 2025 budget and maintains Singapore’s R&D spending at approximately 1% of its GDP. PM Wong identified quantum technology as a primary growth area where the Republic aims to build global leadership, citing it as an “early and deliberate bet” that is now moving rapidly from theory to commercial reality.
Quantinuum to Host “Helios” System in Singapore
A major highlight of the announcement is Singapore’s selection as the first country outside the United States to host Quantinuum’s most powerful quantum computer. The Helios system, a state-of-the-art trapped-ion processor, is expected to complete installation in Singapore by late 2026. This deployment is a cornerstone of a strategic partnership between Quantinuum and Singapore’s National Quantum Office (NQO). It will provide local researchers, homegrown startups, and industry players—particularly in finance, drug discovery, and materials science—with direct, on-shore access to high-fidelity quantum compute.
Strategic Collaboration with Qolab and Nobel Laureate John Martinis
The Prime Minister also highlighted a high-profile collaboration with Qolab, a quantum hardware startup co-founded by Nobel laureate John Martinis (formerly of Google). Qolab is working with local researchers to develop novel superconducting qubit components, specifically leveraging Singapore’s existing world-class semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities. This partnership underscores Singapore’s strategy to marry its legacy strengths in hardware fabrication with frontier quantum research to solve scaling and coherence challenges in superconducting systems.
For more details, access the official Singapore Budget 2026 speech here, explore the National Research Foundation’s RIE 2030 breakdown here, and refer to our previous coverage on Horizon Quantum’s hardware testbed launch in Singapore here.
February 14, 2026
