The US government is bankrolling a type of computer even your nerdiest friend can’t build at home. The Trump administration said yesterday that it plans to invest $2 billion in several quantum computing companies in exchange for equity stakes.

It’s the most significant government boost yet for the experimental tech with the potential to speed up computing. Federal dollars will flow to nine companies, including the publicly traded IBM, D-Wave, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion. Their shares jumped as much as 31% on the news.

Schrödinger’s stake

Intended to aid America’s quantum leadership, the investment will come from the CHIPS and Science Act passed under the Biden administration:

• IBM will get $1 billion, which it will match to set up a dedicated quantum computer chip manufacturing company in Albany, NY. Quantum chipmaker GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million.
• D-Wave, Rigetti, and Infleqtion will each receive $100 million.

The Trump admin’s foray into quantum computing expands its unorthodox, federally funded portfolio of investments in industries that it deems critical for national security. Last year, it took a 10% stake in Intel, and it has since invested in several companies that mine critical minerals.

Why quantum?

All computers store information in something called a bit. Unlike classical computers, in which bits take the value of 1 or 0, quantum computers run on qubits—which can take the value of 1 and 0 simultaneously. In other words, this could make them vastly more powerful than ordinary computers, helping to turbocharge innovation in cybersecurity, engineering, drug development, and defense. McKinsey estimates that quantum computing could give a $2.7 trillion boost to the global economy by 2035.

But…critics say that the Trump administration might be taking an unjustifiably risky gamble with taxpayer cash by investing it into an unproven technology. Companies are still trying to fix quantum computers’ tendency to make errors, which currently makes them impractical for commercial use.

Payoff will likely take years…with Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, recently saying that practical applications of quantum computers are likely about 20 years away. Bill Gates, however, mused that they could come in as little as three years.—SK

Trump postponed his executive order on AI. President Trump was set to sign an executive order on the AI industry yesterday, but had a change of heart at the last minute. “I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” he told reporters. The order would have designated the US government and civilian agencies to review new AI models before they were released to the public, amid rising concerns over cybersecurity. But Axios reported that the order was stalled, in part, due to disagreements within the administration. It’s unclear when the signing would be rescheduled.—AE

SpaceX scrubbed test flight launch at last minute, will try again today. The debut launch of the third version of the company’s Starship rocket in Starbase, TX, did not go ahead as planned yesterday evening, despite the hosts of a SpaceX livestream saying the vehicle was totally loaded during a 90-minute launch window that opened at 6:30pm ET. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that a ground equipment problem was to blame, writing, “The hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract.” He said if the pin could be fixed overnight, the launch would happen at 6:30pm ET today. This test flight will likely be the last before SpaceX goes public. The company has invested $15 billion in its Starship program.—HVL

In last Late Show, Colbert pulled out the stops and turned off the lights. After a 33-year run, and 11 years with Stephen Colbert at the helm, CBS’s The Late Show played the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC a final time last night. In his opening, Colbert expressed gratitude for the 1,800 episodes he hosted, saying, “We call it the joy machine, because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn’t hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears.” A stream of notable figures appeared, including Bryan Cranston, Jon Stewart, Tig Notaro, Ryan Reynolds, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Colbert’s final guest was not Pope Leo, but Paul McCartney, who made his American TV debut with the Beatles at the same theater in 1964. McCartney ended the show by singing “Hello, Goodbye” with Colbert and former Late Show band leader Jon Batiste contributing backup vocals, before McCartney and Colbert turned off the lights together.—HVL

Remember the name retatrutide. It’s Eli Lilly’s latest experimental GLP-1, and patients who took it lost the most weight ever recorded in a medication trial, according to results announced yesterday.

The study isn’t yet peer-reviewed, but it appears to show retatrutide leaving other GLP-1s in the dust:

• The highest dose made patients lose an average of 28% of their body mass after 80 weeks, running nearly a full lap around the highest dose of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (~15% weight loss after 68 weeks).
• The lowest dose of retatrutide still delivered 19% weight loss, making it nearly as effective as the highest dose of Lilly’s Zepbound.

The first GLP-1 that could rival surgery. The trial’s heaviest patients lost an average of 30% of their body weight (or 85 pounds) after two years on retatrutide. That’s about on par with weight loss from gastric bypass surgery.

But…Lilly said 11% of participants on the highest retatrutide dose quit the study because of gastrointestinal side effects—a bigger dropout rate than for less powerful obesity drugs. Some patients in earlier trials also discontinued retatrutide because they felt they were losing too much weight.

Looking ahead…hot off a major earnings beat and regulatory approval for its new weight loss pill, Lilly expects to file for the FDA’s greenlight on retatrutide as early as this year.—ML

Sex sells, but now it also trades: Victoria’s Secret & Co is changing its ticker to “VSXY” on the New York Stock Exchange. The vanity-plate-style makeover is part of a turnaround effort by CEO Hillary Super, who took the job in 2024 to steer the brand back to its former glory as the sexiest place at the mall.

Super said the update will represent a “new era of sexy” for Victoria’s Secret. On June 2, “VSCO”—that ticker oversaw the brand’s peak in the late 2010s and the swift nosedive that followed—will be retired like a pair of sequined, fold-over Pink yoga pants.

• In its 2019 fiscal year, right before its sales faltered, the brand commanded almost one-third of the bra market, and the company brought in $8.1 billion in annual revenue.
• Since then, new brands like Savage X Fenty, Skims, and American Eagle have scooped up market share with more inclusive branding, while Victoria’s Secret faced scandals and struggled with an identity crisis as it tried to move forward.
• By 2024, the brand was bringing in just $6.18 billion in annual sales and controlled just 18% of the market.

Big Picture: Super’s rebound efforts have been working so far. In March, the company reported its third straight quarter of same-store sales growth and said it’s expecting $6.85 billion in full-year sales.—MM

On Fridays, the Brew’s Dave Lozo looks at a sports business story that says a lot more than just the final score of a game.

You probably won’t find Victor Wembanyama there anytime soon, but for some athletes who need help paying the bills, OnlyFans has become a popular outlet.

According to the platform that your boyfriend pretends he doesn’t know about, ~285 professional athletes are on OnlyFans. While most athletes on the platform aren’t big names, they can still make good money: Beach volleyball player Avery Poppinga estimates that she earns ~$2,500 a month, which helps cover $50,000 a year in expenses like flights, hotels, and gym memberships.

It can be lucrative: Former WNBA player Liz Cambage reportedly earns $1.5 million annually from her OnlyFans page. She never made more than $222,000 in a WNBA season.

Athletes take risks: In 2024, canoe slalom (it’s a sport) athlete Kurts Adams Rozentals was banned for two years after posting an explicit video on Instagram, directing followers to his OnlyFans page. Sports governing bodies have banned the company’s logo, as the association with the mostly pornographic business can hurt relationships with other sponsors.—DL