Rigetti deploys a 9-qubit Novera QPU on-premises at Montana State University's new QCORE facility
On 2025-08-20 Rigetti Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI) and Montana State University announced a collaboration, signing a Memorandum of Understanding and installing a 9-qubit Novera QPU at MSU's newly launched QCORE (Quantum Collaborative Research and Education) facility - the first academic institution with an on-premises Rigetti quantum computer. The Ankaa-class Novera QPU is manufactured in Rigetti's Fab-1; the ~12,600-square-foot QCORE facility is supported by roughly 60 organizations including $44.7 million from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The collaboration spans quantum hardware, hybrid systems, workforce development and component testing.
A first academic on-premises Novera deployment converts Rigetti's on-prem QPU product into a named placement backed by significant AFRL funding, validating a commercial channel (sub-cloud, on-site systems) distinct from cloud access; the deal is meaningful for the Novera line though modest in absolute revenue terms.
On-premises academic and government placements seed a workforce-and-research pipeline around Rigetti's architecture and provide recurring component-testing and upgrade revenue, an alternative to the cloud-access model that the larger incumbents dominate.