---
title: "Startup Fortune — Intel agrees to buy Israeli quantum software startup Classiq for $2.2B"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/a552229d-2f8f-4e8c-8ea9-14abf9c31196
source_url: "https://startupfortune.com/intel-agrees-to-buy-israeli-quantum-software-startup-classiq-for-22-billion"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/finance/stack/af94eecb-fc01-43a7-8b78-f12bfa15d76b
summary: "Intel agrees to acquire Israeli quantum software startup Classiq Technologies for $2.2 billion, marking the largest quantum computing acquisition to date. The deal positions Intel to leverage its manufacturing scale advantage while gaining software expertise to make quantum computing accessible beyond specialized physicists."
tags: "quantum-computing, intel, acquisition, classiq, startup, israel, semiconductor"
key_entities: "Intel (organization), Classiq Technologies (organization), Nir Minerbi (person), Yehuda Naveh (person), Amir Naveh (person), Lip-Bu Tan (person), Google (organization), IBM (organization), IonQ (organization), BMW (organization), AT&T (organization), Israel (location), Tel Aviv (location), quantum algorithms (technology), silicon spin qubits (technology), Tunnel Falls (technology), quantum computing (concept), Series C funding round (event)"
classification: "analysis"
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---

# Startup Fortune — Intel agrees to buy Israeli quantum software startup Classiq for $2.2B

$2.2 billion is the price Intel is reportedly paying for Classiq Technologies, an Israeli software startup most of the tech world has never heard of. It would be the biggest quantum computing acquisition to date. Roughly $2.2 billion, according to Globes, is what Intel has agreed to pay for Classiq Technologies. Bloomberg reported on October 26 that the deal is done, and that the Tel Aviv-based company builds software for designing and compiling quantum algorithms. That makes it the biggest acquisition of a quantum computing company to date, and Intel's largest Israeli deal since it paid $15.3 billion for Mobileye in 2017. Intel didn't disclose official terms in its own statement. Bloomberg's reporting and the Globes figure both point to a deal in that range. Classiq was founded in 2020 by CEO Nir Minerbi, CTO Yehuda Naveh and VP of R&D Amir Naveh, a father and son team with backgrounds in Israeli military intelligence and defense research. The company built what it calls an operating system for quantum computers: software that lets engineers design and compile quantum algorithms without needing a physics PhD to do it. Its client list already includes BMW and AT&T, along with Citi, Deloitte, Rolls-Royce, Mizuho and Toshiba, according to the company's own disclosures around its funding rounds. Here's the twist that makes this deal land differently than a typical tech acquisition: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan was already a personal investor in Classiq before his company agreed to buy it. Tan built that relationship over years in venture circles, before taking Intel's top job in March 2025. It shows up now as Intel moves to acquire a company its own chief executive had money in. Make of that what you will. Under the agreement, Classiq will become Intel's global development center for quantum computing, and Minerbi and the Navehs are staying on to run it from Israel. Google gives Intel a rare opening in the AI chip race Google has reportedly ordered more than three million TPUs from Intel for 2028 production, giving Intel a rare external validation for its foundry ambitions. The deal also shows how hyperscalers are diversifying AI chip supply beyond TSMC and Nvidia as compute demand keeps stretching the market. - how to manufacture AI chips for Google - Intel foundry business AI chip orders 2028 Intel's foundry business has spent the past two years under a microscope. Tan inherited a company bleeding market share in its core processor business, falling behind TSMC on manufacturing nodes, and facing genuine questions about whether its chip-making arm survives as an independent unit. Buying a quantum software startup might look like an odd use of capital for a company fighting that fire. But Tan has been explicit that quantum isn't a side project. He has said Intel has roughly 70 people working on the technology, and he treats it as a five-to-ten-year strategic direction, not a quarterly bet. That's a long game. Intel's own approach rests on silicon spin qubits, built using manufacturing processes close to the ones Intel already runs for conventional chips. Its 12-qubit research chip, Tunnel Falls, came off standard 300mm wafers using the same industrial techniques Intel uses for everything else it makes. That's the logic behind the Classiq deal. Intel thinks its manufacturing scale is a real edge in quantum hardware, but it needs software that makes the hardware usable by people who aren't quantum physicists. Classiq's entire pitch is closing exactly that gap. It also puts Intel in a race that looks nothing like the AI chip war dominating headlines this year. IBM, Google and IonQ have each built out their own quantum roadmaps for years, mostly competing on qubit count and error rates. Classiq itself has taken money from some of Intel's own rivals in the field, including AMD, Qualcomm and IonQ. That came as part of a $110 million Series C round that Calcalist reported was the largest ever raised by a quantum software company. Buying the company outright, rather than just investing alongside competitors, is Intel's way of making sure that software layer answers to Intel first. Frankly, this deal tells you more about where Tan thinks the next decade of computing goes than anything in Intel's quarterly earnings call. A struggling chipmaker doesn't spend over two billion dollars on a side bet. It spends that kind of money when its CEO believes the bet is the business. Intel has turned its comeback story into an AI-era test Intel's rally now rests on more than nostalgia, with AI infrastructure demand, foundry ambitions, and Apple chip speculation all reshaping the company's market narrative. The next test is whether Intel can turn that momentum into confirmed customers, volume production, and better foundry economics. - Intel's AI chip manufacturing comeback strategy - how Intel regained market position with AI demand Also read: Mirendil unveils Fern, an AI model claiming a 10 million token context window • A Chinese AI coding tool secretly uploaded users' private code to Alibaba Cloud • Micron says its AI memory chips are sold out through 2026 and into 2028 This article is posted in Technology News , check it out for more related stories. Join the discussion Open in the community → Reply Almost there. Sign in and your reply posts straight away. TOPICS biggest quantum computing acquisition deal in tech history Classiq Intel intel acquires israeli quantum software startup classiq Intel Classiq acquisition price Intel quantum computing strategy Lip-Bu Tan quantum computing software startup Julian Lim More posts by this author → Julian Lim is an entrepreneur, technology writer, and a researcher. He started JL Data Analysis after graduating from NUS in Intelligent Systems. Julian writes about technology innovations and entrepreneurship on Business Times, Asia Pacific Magazine and occasionally contributes to Startup Fortune. Related Articles More posts → FINANCIAL MARKETS B. Riley downgrades Rigetti Computing citing shutdown risk to contracts 4 min 480 reads AI DeepSeek Turns Creator Mode Into a Land Grab for Its Harness 4 min 543 reads AI North Korea Uses AI Faceswaps and Voice Cloning to Land Fake IT Jobs 4 min 626 reads