Quantum computing company IonQ is acquiring cybersecurity firm Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to $1.3 billion, a move that pushes IonQ deeper into the quantum security business. The deal includes $150 million in earnouts and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The acquisition reflects a growing industry bet that practical quantum computing — and the cryptographic upheaval that comes with it — is arriving sooner than many predicted. IonQ CEO Niccolo de Masi put it bluntly: "Q-Day is coming much faster than predicted."
For IonQ, Elisity brings an established cybersecurity business and a foothold in protecting systems against quantum-era threats, complementing its core quantum hardware work. As quantum machines mature, the race to secure today's encryption against tomorrow's quantum decryption is becoming one of the industry's most urgent — and best-funded — frontiers.