Form 8-K

8-K — Rigetti Computing, Inc.

Accession: 0001104659-26-098877

Filed: 2026-08-20

Period: 2026-08-18

CIK: 0001838359

SIC: 7371 (SERVICES-COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SERVICES)

Item: Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

Item: Regulation FD Disclosure

Item: Other Events

Item: Financial Statements and Exhibits

Documents

8-K — tm2623611d1_8k.htm (Primary)

EX-99.1 — EXHIBIT 99.1 (tm2623611d1_ex99-1.htm)

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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

EX-99.1 — EXHIBIT 99.1

EX-99.1

Filename: tm2623611d1_ex99-1.htm · Sequence: 2

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.

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