Bid document

Quantum Benchmarking Initiative Topic (QBIT)

DARPA-PA-26-02-01

QBI Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)
All dates and times are specific to DARPA-PA-26-02-01 only. Posting Date: November 17, 2025
Abstract Responses Due: September 01, 2026, by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) Full Proposal Responses Due: October 15, 2026, by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) Technical Point of Contact: Joseph Altepeter, DARPA/MTO Email: [email protected]

A. Topic Description

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is issuing a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative topic (QBIT) inviting submissions of innovative infrastructure, equipment, and expertise available to provide independent verification and validation (IV&V) support for DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), described in the QBI 2026 Program Announcement (PA), DARPA-PA-26-02. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted to DARPA-PA-26-02-01 and, if selected, will result in an award of an Other Transaction (OT) for Research project.
To view the original DARPA Program Announcement for QBI 2026, visit SAM.gov under solicitation number DARPA-PA-26-02:
https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/c26b38bf041a4d70b00ed619bebb4773/view

B. Introduction

It has been credibly hypothesized—but not proven—that quantum computers will have a transformative impact on a variety of scientific and technical disciplines. Through QBI, DARPA is soliciting proposals from quantum hardware developers on how they plan to build “industrially useful” quantum computers. The primary goal of QBI is to determine if any emerging approaches to quantum computing can achieve industrially useful operation much faster than conventional predictions. The QBI program will verify and validate computing approaches that enable revolutionary advances in the design, engineering, testing, and evaluation of fault tolerant quantum computing and explore application workflows that include quantum compute steps. The determination of the requirements for an industrially useful quantum computer remains a challenging task for three reasons. First, although several algorithms and applications for quantum computers have been suggested, quantifying the value added by a quantum-enhanced workflow over current best practice is often poorly understood or articulated. Second, in most cases, a rigorous comparison to the best classical alternatives for real-world usage has not been completed. Third, it is unclear when or if a utility-scale quantum computer (USQC)—one whose