Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that IBM will collaborate with the state to create a new National Center for Quantum Algorithms in Chicago — marking the first Fortune 500 company to join the soon-to-be-established Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park on the South Side. .
It's a big win for Pritzker, who has sought for years to make Illinois a world leader in quantum computing and innovation. The announcement comes one day after the City Council gave final approval for the zoning of the multi-billion-dollar quantum computing campus.
The newly announced National Quantum Algorithm Center will be anchored by a modular quantum computer from IBM, called IBM Quantum System Two, which will attempt to advance quantum supercomputing across industries.
“The list of public and private institutions looking for a place in our quantum ecosystem is growing by the day, and Illinois is quickly becoming their preferred destination,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago. “As a reminder, being at the forefront of this industry holds the potential to bring long-term and widespread economic prosperity to our people.”
Along with potential advances in quantum technology, the center is expected to stimulate economic development, attracting scientists from around the world. Pritzker also hopes that IBM's decision will continue to help boost federal research grants and private investment in the quantum campus.
IBM's investment will start by creating 50 new permanent jobs, as well as construction jobs for the new facilities. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna estimated the company's initial investment as “in the tens of millions, possibly in the lower hundreds.”
“We're putting a system in place that we don't really put a commercial value on. You've got an incredible amount of R&D (research and development) and early manufacturing going into it,” Krishna said. “What's more important is the number of people we take on.”
Quantum computing has the potential to do everything from help fight climate change, create better batteries, make food safer, and eliminate financial risk, Krishna said.
“All of these problems we believe will be within the reach of quantum computing in this decade,” Krishna said.
The new IBM center will temporarily operate out of Hyde Park Labs, a science and technology mall affiliated with the University of Chicago. After the state's Quantum Campus is built, the center will move to the 128-acre Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. The 440-acre development will be completed in phases over the next four to six years.
Pritzker pushed for the creation of the park, which will be financially supported by $500 million in government funding. Cook County gets $175 million in tax breaks over 30 years, and the city gets $5 million.
California-based PsiQuantum plans to build the world's first commercially useful quantum computer at the massive site, which has struggled to develop since US Steel closed its South Works plant in 1992. According to the Midwest-related site's developer, the first phase of the project will Focus on the 128-acre park centered on PsiQuantum. Related Midwest will also expand access to more than 100 acres of parkland at the site – they estimate more than 20,000 jobs will be created through park development.
A presentation of the PsiQuantum facility at the former South Works site, which will house the country's first large-scale quantum computer.
In July, Pritzker announced that the US Department of Defense Research and Development Agency, or DARPA, would reside at the state's Quantum Campus to create a program where quantum computing prototypes would be tested.
According to DARPA, the goal of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, or QBI, will be to evaluate and test quantum computing claims and “separate the hype from the reality.”
The Quantum Campus will contain a cryogenic facility, which is essential for research and development in microelectronics and quantum technologies. It is expected to generate an economic impact of up to $60 billion, according to estimates from the governor's office. It is also expected to create thousands of jobs, but the governor described it as capable of creating “tens of thousands and perhaps more jobs.”
Chicago is already home to the Chicago Quantum Exchange, which first launched in 2017 with Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories, and which now houses one of the largest teams of quantum researchers in the world.
While mayor, Rahm Emanuel helped launch Chicago's path to quantum development in 2018, announcing that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign would join the University of Chicago's efforts in quantum technology with Fermi and Argonne National Laboratories as part of the Chicago Project. Quantitative exchange. In his last position as US Ambassador to Japan, Emanuel helped secure multi-million dollar research deals between the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago.
