The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the signing of nine letters of intent to provide $2.013 billion in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act, a significant move for US quantum research industrial strategy aimed at securing economic advantage. IBM is slated to receive $1 billion in planned funding to establish a new quantum foundry subsidiary, specifically for the production of quantum-grade superconducting wafers, according to NIST. A substantial federal commitment, particularly towards a major industry player, demonstrates a strategic intent to rapidly establish domestic leadership in quantum technology, prioritizing a centralized approach to hardware manufacturing and supply chain control.
The US aims to foster a broad, innovative quantum ecosystem, but its initial multi-billion-dollar funding allocation heavily concentrates resources on a few major players and specific technologies. This concentration suggests a calculated bet on leveraging existing infrastructure for rapid development.
Based on this concentrated investment, the US is trading a potentially more diverse, distributed quantum development for a faster, more controlled build-out of specific, high-priority domestic capabilities. This approach could accelerate certain breakthroughs while potentially leaving other promising avenues under-resourced. The US's multi-billion dollar quantum investment strategy, heavily favoring IBM and GlobalFoundries, prioritizes rapid, centralized breakthroughs in specific hardware over fostering a diverse, distributed innovation ecosystem, potentially creating future single points of failure.
Diversifying Domestic Quantum Foundries and Technologies
GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million in planned funding to establish a domestic quantum foundry. The $375 million allocation demonstrates a commitment to securing onshore manufacturing capabilities for key quantum components beyond just superconducting wafers. The significant funding allocated to GlobalFoundries, alongside IBM's $1 billion, suggests the US is investing specifically in onshore manufacturing capabilities for key quantum components, aiming to secure supply chains from the outset.
Beyond these large-scale foundries, Atom Computing is set to receive $100 million in planned funding to address technical and manufacturing challenges for neutral-atom quantum computing. Additionally, Australian quantum startup Diraq will receive up to $38 million in planned funding to develop and scale quantum logic units for silicon spin quantum computing technologies. The inclusion of an Australian startup, Diraq, for silicon spin quantum computing with $38 million in funding shows that the US is prioritizing access to cutting-edge technology, regardless of national origin, even within a 'domestic' incentives act.
