IonQ is buying cybersecurity firm Elisity for up to $1.3 billion

IonQ agreed to acquire Elisity, a cybersecurity firm, through an all-stock transaction worth as much as $1.3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The companies planned to announce the transaction later Monday.

Of that total, as much as $150 million is structured as earnouts that depend on how Elisity performs going forward, according to the Wall Street Journal. The exchange ratio for IonQ shares in the deal is pegged to a reference price ranging from $33.07 to $49.61 apiece. IonQ stock closed Friday at $39.89, giving the company a market value of roughly $16 billion.

IonQ Chairman and Chief Executive Niccolo de Masi said the acquisition reflects his view that cybersecurity risks will grow as quantum computing and artificial intelligence systems become more capable. "The bad guys are going to keep taking advantage of new technology," de Masi told the Wall Street Journal. "Unfortunately, we are entering the most dangerous years, vis-à-vis cybersecurity risks."

De Masi said the combined company will aim to help customers guard against threats that involve AI agents. He also cited the looming risk of "Q-Day" — the point at which quantum computers could become powerful enough to break widely used public-key cryptography — as a reason American corporations and the U.S. government need to prepare, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Elisity, which launched in 2019, has built its business around software that blocks intruders and ransomware from propagating laterally through a network. Its customers include healthcare companies and hospitals. Elisity Chief Executive James Winebrenner is expected to stay on after the deal closes.

IonQ's core technology is the trapped-ion approach to quantum hardware, and the company counts clients in fields ranging from pharmaceutical research to defense. The company works with the U.S. Defense Department and has pursued a series of acquisitions to expand its capabilities. That buying spree included a $1.8 billion agreement earlier this year to take over semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The quantum-computing sector has drawn attention from Washington. Over the summer, President Donald Trump issued executive orders calling for accelerated development of a high-capability quantum computer and for shoring up federal defenses against the cyber risks such technology could enable, according to the Wall Street Journal.