Quantum computing stocks climbed Thursday after the Trump administration reportedly moved to award $2 billion to nine companies in the sector, while taking a piece for themselves. 

QBTS stock is soaring. See the chart and price action here.

The Commerce Department has agreed to award International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) $1 billion and GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ:GFS) $375 million. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS), Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) and Infleqtion, Inc. (NASDAQ:INFQ) expect to receive $100 million each, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The awards mark a notable expansion of Washington's strategy of using federal funding not only to support strategic industries, but also to secure potential upside for taxpayers through government-held equity positions. 

CHIPS Act Funding

The funding comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which was designed to strengthen domestic semiconductor production and support early-stage technologies viewed as critical to U.S. competitiveness. 

“With today’s CHIPS ...