CHICAGO — IBM, the technology 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 next big thing in computing: quantum technology.
It’s part of a multi-year effort by Gov. JB Pritzker, state officials and economic development groups to transform Illinois into a global hub for quantum computing and research.
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IBM announced Thursday the opening of a center known as the National Quantum Algorithm Center, which 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.
Quantum technology uses quantum mechanics – the sometimes counterintuitive physics of very small particles – to perform calculations and other computational tasks very quickly, some of which would take a traditional computer thousands or even millions of years to complete.
IBM is the latest organization to join the state’s efforts to make Illinois a hub for quantum computing. Over the past year, several quantum computing organizations have made Chicago a hot destination for quantum researchers and companies, capitalizing on Pritzker’s goals for the research park.
In July, the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, announced that it would launch a program intended to serve as a “testing ground” for quantum technologies, testing their usefulness in contexts real.
That same month, the state unveiled 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 expected 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 in the quantum park, with the state spending $25 million to purchase hardware and prepare to host IBM’s new quantum computer.
As part of its initial commitment to the state, IBM said its development would create 50 permanent jobs at the park, in addition to construction work.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said Thursday that he expects the company’s overall investment in the facility to be in the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. He said he expects that figure — as well as the number of jobs generated by the project — to increase as the company begins hosting student internship programs, graduate scholarships and university professors for research projects.
“Being at the forefront of this industry has the potential to deliver long-term, large-scale economic prosperity for our people,” Pritzker said Thursday.
The IQMP is being built on the lakefront site of a former US Steel plant on Chicago’s South Side. This factory closed its doors in the early 1990s, but at its peak it was responsible for tens of thousands of jobs and significant economic activity for the surrounding area.
Some local residents worry that the benefits of a high-tech research and business facility will not reach the neighborhood that still feels the absence of the U.S. Steel plant.
“We are a very unique and diverse community with a lot of talent, but there has been a lot of disinvestment,” Vanessa Schwartz, a resident born and raised on the Southeast Side, told Capitol News Illinois in an interview in late November. . “That property alone has attracted a lot of investors whose projects have failed, so there’s kind of a reluctance on the part of the community to see if it’s going to happen like that.”
Schwartz, who now directs the Southeast Chicago Center at Metropolitan Family Services, said residents in his community are wary of the project’s potential environmental impacts and fear losing access to a lakefront park on the site.
“The real fear is what’s going to happen to local residents and the local neighborhood,” Schwartz said. “Will they lower their prices, will rents increase?
Schwartz said there have been several well-attended community meetings to discuss the development, but much of the information provided to residents so far was “broad strokes” and was “too vague.”
Pritzker and others on Thursday defended their efforts to meet with the community and address those concerns. He noted a “real commitment” from him and many of the groups involved in the Quantum Park to address residents’ concerns.
Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, represents the district where the IQMP is being built and he said his office has received calls with “very pertinent” concerns, but that he doesn’t think a Formal agreement on community benefits was required for the project. Still, he applauded the community engagement efforts he’s seen so far.
“I’ve been here a long time. I worked for Mayor (Richard M.) Daley’s office almost 20 years ago,” Tarver said. “This is as much commitment as I’ve seen on a project in some time. It really is.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service that distributes coverage of state government to hundreds of media outlets across the state. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.