Newsom signs bills to boost California quantum and fusion

Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills (AB 940 and SB 80) and announced new funding to advance California’s quantum and fusion sectors at UC Berkeley on Oct 3, 2025.

• Main action: Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 940 to create a statewide strategy for commercialization of quantum (to be published by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development) and Senate Bill 80 to create the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Initiative which will distribute $5 million for fusion R&D. The Governor also announced an additional $4 million budgeted for quantum research and innovation (part of the 2025-2026 Final Budget). The signing occurred at the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers at UC Berkeley on Oct 3, 2025 (event purpose: sign legislation and announce funding to advance quantum and fusion technologies).

• Background and details: California hosts both of the nation’s premier fusion research centers (DIII-D National Fusion Facility and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) and multiple leading quantum centers and industry labs (UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Google Quantum AI Campus, Microsoft Station Q, AWS Center for Quantum Computing at Caltech). The state reported that California startups attracted more than $110 billion in the first half of 2025. SB 80’s initiative targets accelerating fusion R&D with a stated goal of delivering a fusion energy pilot project in the state by the 2040s.