Insider Brief
- Diraq has appointed former Broadcom and Philips Semiconductors executive Scott A. McGregor as Chairman of its Board of Directors.
- McGregor brings semiconductor industry experience that aligns with Diraq’s CMOS-compatible silicon quantum computing approach.
- The appointment comes as Diraq expands its U.S. presence, develops industry partnerships, and advances plans for commercial quantum computing systems.
PRESS RELEASE — Diraq, the quantum computing pioneer, today announced the appointment of Scott A. McGregor as Chairman of the Board of Directors. McGregor, known for leading development of Microsoft Windows 1.0 and serving as CEO and President for both Broadcom and Philips Semiconductors (now NXP), brings a strong background in CMOS technology that complements Diraq’s silicon-based quantum approach. The previous chairman, the Hon. William Jeffrey (former Director of NIST, and former CEO of SRI International and HRL), will remain a member of the board.
“We’ve shown that silicon chips are the best path forward for economical and ubiquitous quantum computing, and our focus is now entirely on delivering our first product by 2029, capable of outperforming existing supercomputers for tasks in finance, health and energy. Scott’s deep experience in leading global semiconductor giants matches this moment,” said Diraq CEO and Founder Andrew Dzurak. “His commercial leadership will be critical as we accelerate the roll out of our technology and scale the global deployment of Diraq’s quantum computers.”
“Bill has been instrumental in building Diraq’s systems engineering rigor and governance frameworks and preparing the team for DARPA‘s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. I’m delighted that he will remain on the board and continue to provide strategic guidance as we enter this next chapter,” added Dzurak.
“The quantum computing race will closely mirror the evolution of the classic semiconductor industry, and the ultimate winners will have the most scalable manufacturing economics. Diraq’s silicon-based approach is the most promising path forward,” said incoming Diraq Chairman Scott A. McGregor. “Cost and manufacturability are the key factors in determining which infrastructure becomes the dominant computing layer, and Diraq’s fully CMOS-compatible method is the most powerful, scalable, and economical option. I look forward to helping the team accelerate this phase of the roadmap as the world enters a new era of quantum computing.”
The announcement comes amid a period of strong momentum for Diraq as the team develops its partnerships with leading technology providers including Nvidia, Dell and Global Foundries. The company also recently announced a Letter of Intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $38 million in proposed federal funding from the CHIPS Research and Development Office. With a global team of over 100 employees across the United States and Australia, Diraq is rapidly growing and has open roles spanning technology, product and business.
Founded in Sydney in 2022, Diraq has raised over $100M to date from sophisticated investors that include deep-tech specialists, global semiconductor foundries, and major Australian pension funds. These include Quantonation, Morgan Creek Digital, TIS Intec, imec.xpand, Hostplus, and UniSuper, among others. Diraq also includes In-Q-Tel (IQT) as one of its early investors, the strategic investor that identifies, evaluates, and leverages emerging commercial technologies for the U.S. intelligence community and its allies.
“Quantum computing is poised to play an essential role in the broader technology landscape in the coming years,” said Diana Keenan, Director, IQT. “Making quantum available at scale is a necessity because the true value of quantum will come from widespread access to the technology, which is why Diraq’s focus on industrialization is important. We look forward to supporting the team as they advance toward commercialization.”
Diraq is pioneering the commercial use of silicon-based quantum processors, offering a more scalable and economical approach to quantum computing than competing methods. The company’s proprietary technology enables millions of quantum bits, or qubits, to be placed on a single chip while leveraging the established infrastructure and economics of the existing manufacturing processes of the semiconductor industry. With a target of deploying quantum computing systems into data centers worldwide by 2029, Diraq will deliver practical, commercialized quantum computing that is powerful, economical, scalable, and deployable.
To learn more about Diraq, visit diraq.com.
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