Chips Act 2.0: Europe's quantum industry calls for dedicated quantum chip fabs
Industry consortium QuIC warns that Europe's quantum firms depend on terms set outside the EU for chip manufacturing. It is calling for changes to the new EU chips law.
Symbolic image · Photo: FMNLab / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC has published a position paper on the European Commission's proposal for a Chips Act 2.0. In it, the group welcomes the fact that quantum chips and six European pilot lines – from superconducting and photonic to trapped-ion systems – are covered. But it says dedicated instruments to take production from prototype to industrial scale are missing. The paper responds to the Commission proposal COM(2026) 504.
Most European quantum hardware companies have no fabs of their own, the paper says. Their access to commercial-grade fabrication therefore depends on "voluntary, revocable terms set outside the Union". As examples of the competition, QuIC cites IBM, which is committing more than 10 billion dollars to quantum initiatives, and IonQ, which has acquired US chipmaker SkyWater. Among other things, QuIC recommends granting quantum foundries strategic project status, introducing a subsidised schedule of shared test wafers for start-ups and funding shared facilities for testing at extremely low temperatures. The Chips Act should also be closely aligned with the planned EU Quantum Act.