IonQ Clears Last Regulatory Hurdle : SkyWater Closes Friday , Ending Foreign Chip Dependency

IonQ received final regulatory approval on Tuesday to complete its $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater Technology — and with the deal expected to close this Friday, July 31, the company is poised to become the only quantum hardware maker in the world that designs, builds, and ships its chips entirely on U.S. soil. That distinction matters more than it might appear: every other major trapped-ion quantum company — including IonQ's nearest rival, Quantinuum — currently depends on Infineon Technologies, a German semiconductor manufacturer, to fabricate the specialized trap chips at the heart of their quantum systems. IonQ's SkyWater acquisition severs that European dependency and replaces it with something no competitor currently possesses: a domestically rooted, Pentagon-accredited foundry purpose-built to support the next generation of quantum hardware. On July 28, 2026, IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) announced it had cleared every outstanding regulatory condition required to close its acquisition of SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the largest exclusively U.S.-based semiconductor foundry. The companies anticipate completing all remaining closing arrangements on Friday, July 31. The approval is the final milestone in a six-month regulatory process that began when IonQ and SkyWater signed their Agreement and Plan of Merger on January 25, 2026, and publicly announced…