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Pentagon lender offers Wolfspeed $1.5B, PsiQuantum $150M in loans

The Office of Strategic Capital issued conditional commitments two days apart for silicon carbide chips in North Carolina and quantum hardware in California.

Motion Media News Staff

Oct 9, 2026

3 minutes

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The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital has offered conditional loans to two U.S. technology manufacturers in two days: up to $1.5 billion for chipmaker Wolfspeed and up to $150 million for quantum computing company PsiQuantum, the companies said.

Wolfspeed, based in Durham, N.C., disclosed its commitment letter on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in a Form 8-K filing. PsiQuantum announced its offer on Thursday, Oct. 8. It was the office's second conditional loan in as many days, The Next Web noted.

Wolfspeed: $1.5 billion over 30 years

The Wolfspeed facility would be a senior secured delayed-draw term loan of up to $1.5 billion in as many as four tranches: $600 million at closing and $900 million more in tranches of $200 million to $400 million, according to the filing. It is expected to carry a 30-year maturity, with 36 months to draw the money.

The first $600 million would be used to fully refinance the company's first-lien senior secured notes due 2030. Later tranches would fund a project covering silicon carbide materials and power devices, gallium nitride (GaN) power device production in the U.S., GaN-on-silicon-carbide radio-frequency wafers and radiation-hardened parts, the filing said.

The rate would be tied to a Treasury yield of similar maturity plus a premium provisionally set at 1.25% to 1.75%. To draw funds, Wolfspeed would have to put in at least $750 million from qualifying sources received after June 28, 2026, and it would issue the government warrants for up to 7.5% of its fully diluted equity as tranches are funded, the 8-K said.

"SiC and GaN have critical national security applications," Chief Executive Robert Feurle said in the company's announcement, which cited its manufacturing sites in North Carolina, New York and Arkansas.

PsiQuantum: quantum prototypes in Milpitas

PsiQuantum said the money would go to its 140,000-square-foot hub in Milpitas, Calif., to buy component and system test equipment, assembly and integration infrastructure, and advanced cryogenic systems for prototype machines, alongside the company's own investment, according to its release. Chief Executive Victor Peng called quantum computing "a critical technology for America's economic prosperity and national security."

The offer follows a $125 million expanded agreement PsiQuantum signed in July with DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative and $100 million in CHIPS and Science Act incentives finalized with the Commerce Department in September, the company said.

What's next

Neither loan is final. Wolfspeed's deal depends on due diligence, definitive agreements, government approvals, appropriations and offtake agreements, and the company said there is no assurance any financing will be provided. PsiQuantum said a final commitment will be signed only if it meets all financial, legal, technical and regulatory conditions.