Pritzker, IBM unveil quantum computer fueled by state taxpayers
(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says a new quantum computer in Chicago will bring jobs to Illinois, after state taxpayers provided $25 million for the project.
State and local officials joined administrators from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at the unveiling of the IBM Quantum System Two at Hyde Park Labs in Chicago on Friday.
Pritzker said quantum means companies investing billions of dollars and creating thousands of jobs.
“Scientific innovation is hugely important and the results of it are as well. It’s also really important that this is an economic boom for the state of Illinois,” the governor said.
The public-private project includes a $25 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
In a statement to investors, IBM said it generated $67.5 billion in revenue and delivered $14.7 billion in free cash flow last year, the company’s highest free flow cash margin in reported history.
Officials said the System Two would relocate to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park when the facility opens on Chicago’s Southeast Side.
Illinois, Cook County and Chicago governments have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives for companies to operate at the IQMP.
Pritzker’s administration has invested at least $700 million of taxpayer funds in quantum computing. Federal taxpayers are also chipping in for the IQMP, with $280 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Earlier this year, the governor joined IBM to announce the company’s new FutureNow Chicago delivery center at the IQMP. The program is expected to create 750 new full-time jobs in partnership with the City Colleges of Chicago.
Brad Henderson, CEO of P33, a tech innovation catalyst company, said on Friday that System Two represents opportunities for people.
“We forecasted by 2035 in Chicago, in the region, there will be 177,000 quantum jobs,” Henderson said.
Henderson said IBM would be hiring people at an upcoming career fair at Olive-Harvey College on Chicago’s South Side.
Pritzker said large employers like insurance companies and banks need quantum teams.
“You’re talking about direct and indirect job creation as a result of the technology being developed here,” Pritzker said.
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