Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: Why Google Turned Down Trump’s $2B Quantum Funding

TLDR

• Google’s Quantum AI COO Charina Chou said the funding came with conditions that would have slowed the company’s development pace
• The exact conditions attached to the $2B program have not been disclosed
• The initiative included IBM, GlobalFoundries, Rigetti, PsiQuantum, and Quantinuum among nine recipients
• Microsoft and IonQ were also absent from the funding list
• GOOGL stock was trading around 2.51% lower at ~$347.46 on Thursday

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Alphabet (GOOGL) has broken its silence on why it was left off President Trump’s $2 billion quantum computing funding list — and the answer comes down to speed.

Alphabet Inc., GOOGL

Speaking at the Semafor Tech Summit in San Francisco on June 10, Google Quantum AI COO Charina Chou said the company chose not to join because the conditions attached to the funding would have slowed its ability to build a practical quantum computer at its own pace.

GOOGL stock was trading around 2.51% lower at roughly $347.46 on Thursday.

The exact conditions tied to the program have not been made public. Chou did say that Google continues to work with Washington in other ways and supports broader government investment in basic quantum research.

The $2B initiative was structured as letters of intent, not final contracts. It was designed to strengthen the U.S. quantum computing sector and push back against China’s growing capabilities in the space.

Nine companies were named as beneficiaries in May 2026. The list included IBM (IBM), GlobalFoundries (GFS), Quantinuum, PsiQuantum, Rigetti Computing (RGTI), and Infleqtion (INFQ).

The Companies Left Off the List

Alphabet, Microsoft (MSFT), and IonQ (IONQ) were all absent from that list. No official explanation had been given until Chou’s comments this week.

IonQ and Microsoft have not made similar public statements about why they were excluded.

The absence of three major quantum players from the program has drawn attention, given their scale and investment in the field.

Industry Views on Government Funding

PsiQuantum co-founder Pete Shadbolt defended the role of public investment. He said it was “really natural” because quantum technology carries national security implications.

That view isn’t universal. The debate over how much government involvement helps — or hinders — commercial quantum development appears to be growing.

IBM’s quantum computing executive Scott Crowder offered a timeline at the same forum. He said IBM expects to have its first scalable quantum system ready by 2029.

That would put IBM roughly three years out from a meaningful milestone — and still in the letter-of-intent phase with the Trump administration’s program.

Alphabet has not said whether it would revisit participation in future government programs if the conditions changed.

RGTI stock was up around 2.38% on Thursday, while IBM slipped about 1.35%.