Chicago – just over a year ago, the Illinois Legislative Assembly approved spending by more than $ 700 million to attract and support a new industry: quantum technology.
From now on, representatives of other countries, federal research laboratories and a network of private organizations with links with the State start ink ink and conclude agreements to bring quantum companies specific to Illinois – and stimulate the startups that are already there.
Illinois state officials are interested in attracting the emerging industry because of its economic growth potential and Illinois positioning as a high -tech leader in the coming decades.
Quantum technology is an emerging field of research and business that creates specialized machines and computers that use the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems and behave in a way that would be out of reach for traditional machines.
Last week, two events in Chicagoland offered an overview of the world of quantum companies and public and private financing strata in industry.
The organization of external trade in Japan – an economic development organization affiliated with the government of Japan – sponsored a “delegation” of two days of commercial representatives in Chicago.
During a first meeting of the delegation, representatives of the state and economy development agencies presented the region – and the support of the Illinois state – as unique in the world.
“It is not a government of the State which follows the trends but which really defines the trends,” the Illinois delegation told the Chief Quantum Officer of Illinois, Preeti Chalsani. “When I go to conferences, I hear about other states and countries that plan to do something like Illinois. It really makes me proud. ”
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Intersect Illinois is a private non -profit organization with links with the state. He is led by Christy George, a former Pritzker administration who helped plan the National Democratic Convention in Chicago last summer. The organization also plays a leading role in the State Department of Trade and Economic Opportunity five -year plan To attract affairs to Illinois.
“This is a state that is constantly on a mission to constantly build and develop our commercial environment,” said George during the event.
Representatives of the trade and economic opportunities department, World Business Chicago and the University of Chicago also participated in the event.
The visit reflected Governor JB Pritzker and the visits to the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, in Japan, where the two men, as well as important entourage of leaders in economic development and businessmen, met Japanese officials.
Find out more: The Federal Agency is opposed to the new state law; Pritzker to direct the commercial mission in Japan
The two visits, and in particular those of Pritzker in October 2024, built a media threshing in the Asian nation on the role of Illinois in the development sector in development. Pritzker is an self -proclaimed “geek quantum” and his personal interest in the emerging industry contributes to the interest of the state for him.
During the two days, the Japanese delegation was in Chicago, they visited several local quantum companies, including Qbraid, Fleqtion and Eeroq, among other locations in the city. The DCEO and Intersect Illinois also organized a reception for the Japanese delegation.
The efforts of state and industry boosters seem interesting for at least a few in the advanced industry.
During an implementation and networking event which finished the Japanese visit last week, several companies based in Chicago and based on Chicago discussed their models and commercial strategies.
One of the members of the Japanese delegation who presented the event, the founder of Quantumdata, Yuki Nagasako, told Capitol News Illinois that the quantum industry in Chicago is “very hot”, in particular compared to the technological centers of artificial intelligence in California.
“When I say that I work in quantum technology in the bay region? No one knows. Nothing,” said Nagasako. “But in Chicago, here?” Everyone.”
Nagasako, whose company has offices in California and is currently in a fundraising round, said it was planning to develop in Chicago.
This event also presented meetings in camera between Japanese companies and PSIQUANTUM managers as well as other local businesses.
Quantum State Park
PSIQUANTUM is one of the jewelry of the quantum crown of the state. It is the “anchor tenant” of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, or IQMP, a research park planned to inaugurate later this year on the south side of Chicago.
The California quantum company based in California collected $ 750 million to an evaluation of $ 6 billion earlier this year, according to reports Reuters. His latest official evaluation was $ 3.1 billion in 2021.
Find out more: Quantum Business Park coming to Chicago, supported by $ 700 million in Illinois State
This park is built with $ 500 million in public funding, in addition to $ 200 million in tax alternatives and other incentives directly to Psiantum.
Harley Johnson, professor at the University of Illinois, who took over at the head of the IQMP at the end of last year, said that the “singular concentration” of the research establishment is to help increase the technology of quantum computer science.
“In some cases, you need a really specialized industrial infrastructure,” said Johnson last week.
Johnson was expressed during an event in Argonne National Lab where federal researchers and quantum defenders at the level of the state discussed the future of the State as the “quantum meadow” – a riff on Silicon Valley in California.
There, he also laid the foundations for what should be occupied for a few months in the quantum research park of the State.
“There are a lot of exciting announcements,” said Johnson. “We will innovate very soon.”
In addition to Psiquantum, several other large groups said they would settle in the research park. Six months ago, IBM announced that it was building a quantum computer and a research center in the park. About a year ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, announced that it would base a quantum test program in the park.
Two weeks ago, the IQMP also announced that the Australian company of Technology and Quantum Diraq intended to open an installation in the park.
“The construction and scaling of their quantum operation at the IQMP testify that the Illinois attracts the sectors of technology and security,” Pritzker said in a statement at the time. “Diraq’s commitment more cements the position of Illinois as a global quantum leader and reflects the state’s commitment to promote innovation and economic growth.”
The Diraq is one of the nearly 20 companies that participate in the first stage of the Darpa quantum test program.
“We have others that will come on board soon,” said Johnson in his speech last week.
Capitol News Illinois is a non -profit non -partisan information service that distributes the coverage of the state government to hundreds of media throughout the state. It is funded mainly by Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.