CHICAGO — IBM, the tech giant known for revolutionizing computing over the past 70 years, is setting up shop on Chicago’s South Side to develop what could be the field’s next big leap: quantum technology.
It’s part of a multi-year effort from Gov. JB Pritzker, state officials and economic development groups to turn Illinois into a global hub for quantum computing and research.
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IBM announced Thursday it will open a facility known as the National Quantum Algorithm Center that will bring together experts and researchers to focus on ways to combine quantum computers and traditional computers to solve complex problems. It will also house IBM’s Quantum System Two, a quantum computer that can be upgraded as the company develops its technology further.
Quantum technology uses quantum mechanics – the sometimes counterintuitive physics of very small particles – to perform calculations and do other computing tasks very quickly, some of which would take a traditional computers thousands or even millions of years.
IBM is the latest organization to join the state’s efforts to make Illinois a quantum computing hub. Over the past year, several quantum computing organizations have made Chicago a go-to destination for quantum researchers and businesses, capitalizing on Pritzker’s goals for the research park.
In July, the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, announced it was going to launch a program meant to serve as a “proving ground” for quantum technologies – testing how useful they could be in real-world settings.
The same month, the state unveiled its plans for a quantum research and business park – with $700 million in tax incentives, grants and other financial support. The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, or IQMP, is set to open in about two years with California-based PsiQuantum as its first anchor tenant.
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DARPA and IBM will also have facilities at the quantum park, with the state kicking in $25 million to purchase equipment and make preparations to house IBM’s new quantum computer.
As part of its initial commitment to the state, IBM said its development will bring 50 permanent jobs to the park in addition to construction work.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said Thursday he expects the company’s overall investment in the facility to be in the tens of millions or low hundreds of millions. He said he expects that figure – and the number of jobs generated by the project – to grow as the company begins to host student intern programs, graduate fellowships and university faculty for research projects.
“Being at the forefront of this industry holds the potential to deliver long-term, broad-based economic prosperity for our people,” Pritzker said Thursday.
The IQMP is being built at the lakefront site of a former U.S. Steel plant on Chicago’s South Side. That plant closed in the early 1990s, but at its height of its operations was the source of tens of thousands of jobs and significant economic activity for its surrounding neighborhood.
Some local residents are worried that the benefits of a high-tech research and business facility won’t reach the neighborhood that still feels the absence of U.S. Steel’s plant.
“We’re a very unique and diverse community with a lot of talent, but there’s been a lot of disinvestment,” Vanessa Schwartz, a born-and-raised resident of the Southeast Side, told Capitol News Illinois in a late-November interview. “That property alone has had a lot of investors with plans that have fallen through, so there’s some kind of reticence with the community to see if this is going to be something like that.”
Schwartz, who now runs the Metropolitan Family Services’ Southeast Chicago Center, said residents in her community feel wary of the potential environmental impacts of the project and are worried they will lose access to a lakefront park at the site.
“The real fear is what’s going to happen to the local residents and the local neighborhood,” Schwartz said. “Will they be priced out, will rents increase?”
Schwartz said there have been several well-attended community meetings held to discuss the development, but much of the information provided to residents so far has been in “broad strokes” and been “too vague.”
Pritzker and others on Thursday defended efforts to meet with the community and address these concerns. He noted a “real commitment” from himself and many of the groups involved in the quantum park to address concerns from residents.
Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, represents the district where the IQMP is being built and he said his office has received calls with concerns that are “very relevant,” but that he didn’t think a formal community benefits agreement was necessary for the project. Still, he applauded the community engagement efforts he’s seen so far.
“I’ve been around a long time. I used to work for Mayor (Richard M.) Daley’s office almost 20 years ago,” Tarver said. “This is as much engagement as I’ve seen on a project in quite some time. It really is.”
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
