Intel buys quantum software firm Classiq as Lip-Bu Tan sheds “non-core” units

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has announced its acquisition of Classiq, an Israeli quantum computing software startup. 

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. It will be a step in the right direction for CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s goal of expanding into quantum.

Will Intel buy Classiq?

Intel announced its acquisition of Classiq on Monday from its Santa Clara and Tel Aviv offices. The company did not put a price on the transaction, but Bloomberg estimated that it would’ve cost roughly $2.3 billion. 

Classiq makes software that automatically designs quantum algorithms, so developers and companies can build quantum applications without coding each circuit by hand. The startup has about 130 employees and has raised over $200 million. Its customers include BMW and AT&T.

Intel says it will combine Classiq’s software with its own spin-qubit chips and manufacturing. This will let Intel add quantum processors (QPUs) to its existing lineup of CPUs, GPUs, and custom chips.

Classiq co-founder and CEO Nir Minerbi said the two companies “can help unlock the benefits of quantum computing and accelerate its adoption sooner.” 

Intel said it plans to keep Classiq’s software independent of any particular qubit type or hardware after the deal closes. The transaction still needs regulatory clearance, and the firms will operate separately until it completes.

Why is Intel’s CEO interested in quantum computing?

Since taking over, Tan has told investors that selling off assets he sees as non-core is key to Intel’s turnaround. In April 2025, for example, Intel agreed to sell a 51% stake in its programmable-chip business, Altera, to private equity firm Silver Lake for $4.46 billion. The company said the sale would let it focus on its main business. 

Intel has also considered selling its network and edge unit, once known as NEX, which brought in $5.8 billion in revenue in 2024.

Tan’s own ties run through the quantum field. Before Intel, he ran Cadence Design Systems and chairs Walden International. He is also a long-time investor in PsiQuantum and joined that company’s board in 2026.

Intel has supported quantum research since 2015. It says it is the only company that can boast of making qubit chips, along with the cold-temperature control electronics around them, at large scale using standard silicon manufacturing. 

In 2023, it shipped Tunnel Falls, a 12-qubit silicon chip, to university and government labs, including Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to Physics World.

Still, Intel’s chips have far fewer qubits than its rivals. IBM and Google have run processors with hundreds of qubits. Intel is betting that its spin qubits, which are about the size of a transistor, will be easier to scale up over time.

The deal lands in a consolidating market. IBM signed an agreement in July 2026 to buy HRL Laboratories, the Boeing and General Motors research institution, to add silicon-spin qubit expertise to its superconducting program. Meanwhile, Microsoft has made a quantum chip small enough to fit in regular server racks.