IBM and United States Department of Commerce announced Letter of Intent on May 21 to build America’s first quantum chip foundry securing nation’s global quantum leadership.
“With today’s CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities.”
The project centers on new standalone company called Anderon which will operate as pure-play quantum foundry based in Albany, New York receiving $1 billion in CHIPS Act incentives.
IBM will invest another $1 billion in cash along with intellectual property, manufacturing assets, and technical workforce support. This initiative represents one of most significant commitments by US Government to date in quantum research and development positioning United States to manufacture most of world’s quantum wafers.
Anderon will operate as state-of-the-art 300-millimeter quantum wafer foundry helping nation solidify leadership at center of thriving new quantum industry. Industry analysts estimate quantum computing will generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040 spurring American economic growth while bolstering national security.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said, “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 that will reshape global innovation and economic competitiveness. With the support of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Anderon will be well-positioned to fuel America’s fast-growing quantum technology industry.”
The foundry model standardizes and scales production unlike current quantum systems built in limited research environments. Anderon will support superconducting qubit wafers and related electronics with plans to expand into additional quantum computing architectures in future. New company will function as shared manufacturing base allowing different hardware developers access wafer-scale production infrastructure.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stated CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing lead world into new era of American innovation. Strategic quantum technology investments will build domestic industry creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing national security.
IBM already developed and tested scalable quantum wafer technology offering clear pathway to commercialization. Anderon plans to tap IBM’s strength in building and deploying quantum computers offering wafer fabrication for multiple quantum technology vendors across world.
