Intel Corp. agreed to acquire Classiq, an Israeli developer of quantum computing software, in a deal that would give the chipmaker its own programming layer for the quantum processors it has been building for a decade.
Intel announced the definitive agreement after the market closed on Monday but did not disclose financial terms. Published reports in Israel and the U.S. put the price at about $2.3 billion in a combination of cash and Intel shares. At that level the transaction would be the largest acquisition of a quantum computing company to date, well above the roughly $1 billion IonQ agreed to pay for Oxford Ionics last year.
A software layer for Intel’s qubits
Classiq sells a platform that automates the design of quantum algorithms, letting developers write high-level models that the software converts into circuits for specific machines. The product is built to work regardless of which qubit technology sits underneath, and Intel said it plans to keep supporting Classiq’s integrations with other hardware makers after closing.
Intel has invested in quantum research since 2015 and has focused on silicon spin qubits that can be made with the same tools used in conventional chip factories. The company said pairing that hardware with Classiq’s software would turn its Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack business and add quantum processing units to a lineup that already spans CPUs, GPUs and custom accelerators. Intel compared Classiq’s role to the electronic design automation tools that made modern chip design possible.
A large multiple for a young company
Founded six years ago by Chief Executive Nir Minerbi, Amir Naveh and Yehuda Naveh, Classiq employs about 150 people and counts BMW, Rolls-Royce, HSBC, Deloitte, Toshiba and Citi among its customers, according to reports in the Israeli financial press. Those reports also said the company’s annual revenue is in the tens of millions of dollars, that it had raised about $200 million in total and that its 2025 funding round valued it at roughly $600 million to $700 million.
Intel has also set aside more than $100 million in retention grants for Classiq staff, according to the Israeli reports, which added that Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan, who invested in Classiq personally before taking the top job, recused himself from deliberations on the deal. Classiq had been weighing a U.S. initial public offering before agreeing to sell, those reports said.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Until then, the two companies will continue to operate separately.
