IBM plans $2B quantum chip foundry; government will pay half

The US government has awarded IBM $1 billion to help establish the first purpose-built quantum chip fabrication unit in the US. The Trump administration’s investment is being matched by IBM itself and will result in the establishment of a new company called Anderon. The new business will build its factory in Albany, New York. IBM has pioneered quantum computing for decades. “Our work in silicon wafer fabrication has been a key to IBM’s success and will be critical to enable a broader quantum technology landscape,” said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. “Anderon will be well-positioned to fuel America’s fast-growing quantum technology industry.” Anderon will, with IBM’s help, develop quantum wafers for a number of hardware vendors. The US government also invested in several other companies in the quantum area. GlobalFoundries, D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing also benefited from the administration’s interest in the technology.