STOCK TITAN
  1. Home
  2. Sec-filings
  3. RGTI
  4. [8-K] Rigetti Computing, Inc. Reports Material Event

Rigetti (NASDAQ: RGTI) targets 99.5% fidelity, reshapes leadership

Filing Impact
(High)
Filing Sentiment
(Neutral)
Form Type
8-K

Rhea-AI Filing Summary

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI) announced a new operating structure centered on a dedicated Systems Delivery organization to support growing demand for on‑premises quantum systems from 9‑qubit Novera units to 108‑qubit Cepheus‑class systems. To support this structure, the Board appointed David Rivas$440,000. Rivas will oversee fabrication operations, systems delivery, software, applications, commercial functions, government programs, supply chain, and facilities.

The Board also appointed Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D., previously Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems, as Chief Technology Officer, responsible for quantum processor development, chip fabrication development, and hardware engineering. Rigetti highlights its focus on advancing its quantum processor roadmap, including a target of 99.5% median two‑qubit gate fidelity on its Cepheus‑1‑108Q system, and notes that the technology organization will remain its largest engineering group.

Positive

  • None.

Negative

  • None.

Filing Explained

The appointments took effect on August 18, 2026, putting the new operating split into force: David Rivas is Chief Operating Officer and Andrew Bestwick is Chief Technology Officer. The structural effect is internal accountability, assigning operations and system delivery to the COO while processor development and hardware engineering remain under the CTO.

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers Governance
Key personnel changes including departures, elections, or appointments of directors and executive officers.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure Disclosure
Material non-public information disclosed under Regulation Fair Disclosure, often investor presentations or guidance.
Item 8.01 Other Events Other
Voluntary disclosure of events the company deems important to shareholders but not covered by other items.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits Exhibits
Financial statements, pro forma financial information, and exhibit attachments filed with this report.
COO base salary $440,000 per year Annual base salary for David Rivas as Chief Operating Officer
Target two-qubit gate fidelity 99.5% Target median two-qubit gate fidelity on Cepheus-1-108Q
Quantum system sizes 9 to 108 qubits Range of qubits in Rigetti’s on-premises quantum systems
Cepheus system range 36 to 108 qubits Cepheus-class systems based on chiplet-based technology
Gate speeds 50–70 nanoseconds Gate operation speeds for Rigetti quantum computers
Comparison to trapped-ion 10,000 times faster Rigetti gate speeds vs trapped-ion systems
Comparison to neutral-atom 100 times faster Rigetti gate speeds vs neutral-atom systems
Systems Delivery organization technical
"Rigetti is establishing a dedicated Systems Delivery organization"
two-qubit gate fidelity technical
"including its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity"
Two-qubit gate fidelity measures how accurately a quantum computer performs a basic operation that links two quantum bits (qubits). Think of it like the success rate of a two-person handshake that must be precise for a larger task; higher fidelity means fewer errors, better chances of running useful algorithms, and lower cost to correct mistakes. Investors watch it because higher fidelity signals more reliable hardware and faster progress toward commercially valuable quantum computing.
chiplet-based technology technical
"Cepheus 36-qubit to 108-qubit systems are based on the Company’s proprietary chiplet-based technology"
A modular approach to making advanced computer chips by assembling multiple smaller silicon dies, called chiplets, into a single package instead of fabricating one large monolithic chip. It matters to investors because chiplets can lower manufacturing cost and risk, speed time to market, allow mixing of different technologies and process nodes, and improve yield—like building a complex device from Lego pieces rather than casting one big part.
quantum processing unit technical
"Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU supports a broader R&D community"
A quantum processing unit (QPU) is a type of computer chip that uses quantum properties to process information in ways conventional chips cannot, working with units that can represent multiple states at once instead of just 0 or 1. For investors, QPUs matter because they promise radically faster solutions for certain problems—like drug discovery, cryptography, and complex simulations—so companies with credible progress could gain competitive advantage or unlock new markets, while commercialization and scale remain uncertain challenges.
Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) technical
"through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform"

FAQ

What leadership changes did Rigetti Computing (RGTI) announce in this Form 8-K?
Rigetti appointed David Rivas as Chief Operating Officer and Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D. as Chief Technology Officer, both effective August 18, 2026. These roles align with a new operating structure focused on systems delivery and quantum processor development.

How did Rigetti Computing (RGTI) change David Rivas’s compensation?
In connection with his appointment as Chief Operating Officer, Rigetti increased David Rivas’s annual base salary to $440,000. The filing does not describe additional incentive changes, focusing on his expanded operational responsibilities across fabrication, delivery, and commercial functions.

What is the purpose of Rigetti’s new Systems Delivery organization?
The Systems Delivery organization is designed to scale deployment of on‑premises quantum systems, strengthen end‑to‑end operational execution, and focus engineering resources on quantum processor development. It centralizes manufacturing operations, systems delivery, and customer‑facing engineering functions.

What technology performance target did Rigetti (RGTI) highlight for Cepheus-1-108Q?
Rigetti highlighted a target of 99.5% median two‑qubit gate fidelity on its Cepheus‑1‑108Q system. This target is part of the company’s published technology roadmap and reflects its focus on improving quantum processor performance.

What quantum systems does Rigetti Computing (RGTI) currently sell?
Rigetti sells on‑premises quantum systems ranging from 9‑qubit Novera QPUs to 108‑qubit Cepheus‑class systems. The company also offers Cepheus 36‑qubit to 108‑qubit systems based on proprietary chiplet‑based technology, plus cloud access via Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services.

How fast are Rigetti’s quantum gate operations compared with other modalities?
Rigetti states its superconducting‑qubit systems achieve gate speeds of 50–70 nanoseconds, about 10,000 times faster than trapped‑ion systems and 100 times faster than neutral‑atom systems. These figures come from Rigetti’s description of its hardware performance characteristics.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

See more from StockTitan in Google Search and AI answers. Adds StockTitan as a preferred source · opens Google
Add on Google
Understanding 8-K Material Events →
false 0001838359 0001838359 2026-08-18 2026-08-18 0001838359 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2026-08-18 2026-08-18 0001838359 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2026-08-18 2026-08-18 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 18, 2026

 

 

RIGETTI COMPUTING, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter) 

 

 

Delaware   001-40140   88-0950636

(State or Other Jurisdiction
of Incorporation)

  

(Commission

File Number)

  

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

775 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, California   94710
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)   (Zip Code)

 

(510) 210-5550

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including area code)

 

N/A

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report.)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligations of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

¨ Pre-commencement communication pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class  Trading
Symbol(s)		  Name of each
exchange
on which registered
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share  RGTI  The Nasdaq Capital Market
Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share  RGTIW  The Nasdaq Capital Market

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company  x

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ¨

 

 

 

 

 

Item 5.02.Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

 

On August 18, 2026, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Rigetti Computing, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed David Rivas to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective the same date. Mr. Rivas previously served as the Company’s Chief Technology Officer. In connection with the appointment, the Compensation Committee of the Board increased Mr. Rivas’ annual base salary to $440,000.

 

Mr. Rivas, age 65, served as the Company’s Chief Technology Officer since February 2023, and he previously served as Senior Vice President, Systems and Services at the Company since March 2019, where he oversaw the engineering and operations of the Company’s Quantum Cloud Services platform.

 

There is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Rivas and any other person pursuant to which Mr. Rivas was selected as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. There are no related party transactions between the Company and Mr. Rivas reportable under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K and no family relationships between Mr. Rivas and any of the Company’s directors or officers.

 

Item 7.01.Regulation FD Disclosure.

 

On August 19, 2026, the Company issued a press release regarding the Company’s leadership changes. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K (the “Current Report”) and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

The information included in Item 7.01 of this Current Report (including Exhibit 99.1 hereto) is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to liabilities of that section, and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

 

Item 8.01.Other Events.

 

On August 18, 2026, the Board appointed Andrew Bestwick to the role of Chief Technology Officer of the Company, effective the same date. Mr. Bestwick served as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems since January 2024. Prior to this role, he worked in a variety of technical capacities at Rigetti beginning in August 2015, including chip fabrication, circuit design, cryo-RF hardware engineering, and system architecture.

 

  Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

Exhibit
No.		   Description
   
 99.1   Press Release issued by Rigetti Computing, Inc. dated August 19, 2026.
     
104   Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

Date: August 19, 2026 RIGETTI COMPUTING, INC.
     
  By: /s/ Jeffrey Bertelsen
    Jeffrey Bertelsen
    Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1 

 

Rigetti Computing Establishes Dedicated Systems Delivery Organization to Scale Customer Deployments and Advance Quantum Processor Roadmap

 

David Rivas appointed to newly created Chief Operating Officer role; Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D. appointed Chief Technology Officer

 

BERKELEY, Calif. — August 19, 2026 — Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI) (“Rigetti”), a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing, today announced a new operating structure designed to scale deployment of on-premises quantum systems, strengthen end-to-end operational execution, and further focus its engineering resources on quantum processor development.

 

Rigetti is establishing a dedicated Systems Delivery organization and creating the role of Chief Operating Officer to lead manufacturing operations, systems delivery, commercial functions, and customer-facing engineering. Quantum processor architecture, chip development, and hardware engineering will be consolidated under the Chief Technology Officer.

 

The Company has seen increased demand for customer deployments of on-premises systems, ranging from 9-qubit Novera systems to large-scale 108-qubit Cepheus-class systems. Historically, installation and customer support activities have been supported within the engineering organization. The new structure creates dedicated leadership and resources for system deployment and customer success, while enabling engineering teams to concentrate on advancing processor performance and the Company’s published technology roadmap, including its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on Cepheus-1-108Q.

 

David Rivas, who has served as Rigetti’s Chief Technology Officer since February 2023, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer. In this newly created role, Rivas will oversee fabrication operations, systems delivery, software engineering, applications, business development, government programs, supply chain, and facilities.

 

Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D., currently Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems, has been appointed Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Bestwick has led the architecture of Rigetti’s Cepheus-class multi-chip systems and will oversee quantum processor development, chip fabrication development, and hardware engineering. The technology organization will remain Rigetti’s largest engineering organization, underscoring the Company’s continued focus on advancing processor performance and executing its technology roadmap.

 

Both executives report to Rigetti’s President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Subodh Kulkarni. The appointments are effective August 18.

 

 

 

 

“Rigetti’s growing deployment activity makes this the right time to establish a dedicated organization focused on delivering and supporting systems for customers,” said Dr. Kulkarni. “This structure gives our commercial and operational teams clear, end-to-end accountability for scaling system delivery, while giving our technology organization even greater focus on quantum processor innovation and performance. David brings deep experience building the operational capabilities that support our systems and customers, and Andrew brings exceptional technical leadership to our chiplet-based architecture. Together, we believe these appointments position Rigetti to execute across both customer deployments and our technology roadmap.”

 

About David Rivas

 

David Rivas joined Rigetti in March 2019 as Senior Vice President of Systems and Services, where he oversaw the engineering and operations of Rigetti’s Quantum Cloud Services platform, and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in February 2023. He previously held executive positions at Sun Microsystems, Nokia, Bolt Threads, and Stage 3 Systems, including leadership of field engineering and services organizations of product management, and core engineering organizations. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

 

About Andrew Bestwick

 

Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D., joined Rigetti in August 2015 and has held technical and leadership positions spanning chip fabrication, circuit design, cryogenic RF hardware engineering, and system architecture. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems in January 2024. He previously worked in management consulting at Bain & Company. He holds an A.B. in physics and mathematics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University.

 

About Rigetti

 

Rigetti is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. Rigetti quantum computers are based on superconducting qubits, which are widely believed to be the leading qubit modality given their maturity, clear path to scaling, and fast gate speeds. Rigetti quantum computing systems achieve gate speeds of 50-70 nanoseconds, which is about 10,000 times faster than trapped-ion systems and 100 times faster than neutral-atom systems.

 

Rigetti sells on-premises 9-qubit to 108-qubit quantum computing systems, which support national laboratories and quantum computing centers. Rigetti’s Cepheus 36-qubit to 108-qubit systems are based on the Company’s proprietary chiplet-based technology and include the Company’s control electronics. Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU supports a broader R&D community with a high-performance, on-premises QPU designed to plug into a customer’s existing cryogenic and control systems.

 

The Company operates quantum computers over the cloud through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, enabling global enterprise, government, and research clients to pursue R&D. The Company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides high-performance integration with public and private clouds for practical quantum computing.

 

 

 

 

Rigetti developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. Leveraging this proprietary technology, Rigetti deployed the industry’s largest multi-chip quantum computer in 2026 with Cepheus-1-108Q, based on twelve 9-qubit chiplets tiled together. The Company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Learn more at https://www.rigetti.com/.

 

Contacts

 

Rigetti Computing Investor Contact:

IR@Rigetti.com

 

Rigetti Computing Media Contact:

press@rigetti.com

 

Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements

 

Certain statements in this communication may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements with respect to the Company’s expectations with respect to its future success and performance, including the design of the Systems Delivery organization to scale deployment of on-premises quantum systems, strengthen end-to-end operational execution, and further focus its engineering resources on quantum processor development; the advancement of processor performance and the Company’s published technology roadmap; the target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on Cepheus-1-108Q; and the belief that these appointments position Rigetti to execute across both customer deployments and our technology roadmap. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to achieve milestones, technological advancements, including with respect to its technology roadmap; Company’s ability to deliver products to customers in time or at all, including actions by customers, such as controls over their facilities and cancelling orders; the ability of the Company to obtain government contracts successfully and in a timely manner and the availability of government funding; the potential of quantum computing; the success of the Company’s partnerships and collaborations; the Company’s ability to accelerate its development of multiple generations of quantum processors; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company or others; the ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and attract and retain management and key employees; costs related to operating as a public company; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, or competitive factors; the Company’s estimates of expenses and profitability; the evolution of the markets in which the Company competes; the ability of the Company to implement its strategic initiatives and expansion plans; the expected use of proceeds from the Company’s past and future financings or other capital; the sufficiency of the Company’s cash resources; unfavorable conditions in the Company’s industry, the global economy or global supply chain, including rising inflation and interest rates, deteriorating international trade relations, political turmoil, natural catastrophes, warfare, and terrorist attacks; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 and other documents filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements other than as required by applicable law. The Company does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

 

 

 

 

Source: View Original Filing on SEC EDGAR

Filing Exhibits & Attachments

5 documents

Press Releases

Other Documents