The US is betting big on quantum, committing $2bn in federal funding to nine companies as it races to build a domestic quantum computing industry.

The US department of commerce announced yesterday (21 May) it is proposing $2bn in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act to benefit two domestic quantum foundries and seven quantum computing companies. The funds are aimed at solving the most critical technology challenges in the race to develop utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

The largest single allocation goes to IBM, which is using a $1bn CHIPS award to launch Anderon, a standalone company that IBM said will be the first pure-play US quantum chip foundry. Headquartered in Albany, New York, Anderon will operate as a 300mm quantum wafer foundry serving multiple quantum hardware vendors.

IBM will match the government’s contribution with $1bn of its own cash, along with significant intellectual property, assets and its skilled workforce, with additional investors expected as Anderon grows.

GlobalFoundries is receiving $375m to launch Quantum Technology Solutions, a new quantum business built on its decade-long cryogenic CMOS, advanced packaging and materials science investment. The Malta, New York-based foundry will manufacture the full quantum hardware stack, from quantum processor units to cryogenic readout and control chips, serving multiple qubit architectures including superconducting, trapped ion, photonic, topological and silicon-spin. The new business launches with existing customers that include Diraq, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia.

Among the seven quantum computing companies receiving funding is Quantinuum, which has signed a letter of intent for $100m to fabricate low-loss integrated photonics and specialised optical components tuned to trapped-ion critical wavelengths. The company plans to partner with GlobalFoundries for critical semiconductor components and Monarch Quantum for integrated photonics.

“These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities,” said US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.

The CHIPS R&D office said it is taking a portfolio approach to strengthen US leadership across multiple quantum modalities simultaneously, while focusing each award on discrete technological problems of real consequence. The remaining $538m in funding is to be distributed among Atom Computing, Diraq, D-Wave, Infleqtion, PsiQuantum and Rigetti Computing.

Quantum computing, the department said, has significant implications for national defence, advanced materials and biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modelling, and energy systems. The announcement comes as Quantinuum is also preparing for a Nasdaq IPO.

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