IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna in an interview
compared quantum to where AI chips were a
decade ago and said the new business could
generate billions of dollars a year in sales with high
profit margins by the mid-2030s.
Yep, quantum is almost here, like they've been telling us for years.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/quantum-computing-grants-ibm-rigetti-globalfoundries-7382e6be
Trump administration hopes to spur ‘a new era of American innovation,’ Commerce Secretary Lutnick says
By: Amrith Ramkumar and Heather Somerville |
Updated May 21, 2026 10:17 pm ET
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantum-computing companies in deals that include U.S. government equity stakes, the Commerce Department said.
The move accelerates the administration’s plans to boost the nascent industry, which has attracted a wave of investment from investors and businesses in recent months.
The department has agreed to give $1 billion of the package to International Business Machines IBM, a leader in the race to build computers that use quantum mechanics to solve problems much faster than traditional supercomputers. Coupled with advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing has the potential to turbocharge scientific research, making it an economic and national-security priority for President Trump.
IBM and other companies are working to develop specialized chips for quantum computing, a focus for the government in its bid to spur domestic supply chains. IBM said it is investing $1 billion of its own cash alongside the award to set up what it said is the nation’s first specialized quantum chip manufacturing facility. The company is establishing a new business focused on the effort that will receive the government investment.
Shares of the company added 12%.
The chip maker GlobalFoundries GFS 14.92%increase; green up pointing triangle is receiving $375 million in funding and giving the government a roughly 1% stake in the company. It is also setting up a new business focused on quantum. The rest of the companies are expected to receive $100 million, except for the startup Diraq, which is slated to get $38 million.
Several companies pursuing various approaches to quantum are slated to be awarded funds, including the publicly traded firms D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing and Infleqtion.
The deals still need to be completed.
GlobalFoundries surged 15% on Thursday, while shares of the smaller publicly traded companies receiving funding—D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing and Infleqtion—added roughly 30% or more.
The funding for the quantum deals comes from the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which includes money for earlier-stage technology projects. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has overhauled the office, asking semiconductor companies to increase their domestic investments and taking a nearly 10% stake in Intel, which has seen shares surge since the unusual deal.
The government will receive a minority equity stake in each quantum company, adding to similar deals including the rare-earths magnet maker Vulcan Elements and the mining company MP Materials.
D-Wave said that all of its $100 million award would be an equity investment. It recently had a market value of more than $7 billion. Rigetti and Infleqtion said their deals would have a similar structure.
The department and many of the other quantum companies didn’t provide details about the exact size and structure of other equity stakes.
“The Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation,” Lutnick said in a statement.
The new funding comes as the administration works on an executive order focused on the industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported the department was talking to quantum companies about funding and equity stakes.
Some tech analysts have said the quantum sector and others are too risky for the government to make equity investments, but Lutnick has argued that the deals are structured so taxpayers will ultimately benefit. A senior Commerce Department official said the agency did so many different deals to spread out its bets, acknowledging that it could take years for them to pan out.
“Everybody is excited about quantum because it is the next big thing. A lot of the expectations and hopes have yet to be realized,” said Dana Goward, president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, a charity advocating for policies and systems to protect GPS satellites, signals, and users. One application of quantum has the potential to replace GPS, according to tech analysts.
IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna in an interview compared quantum to where AI chips were a decade ago and said the new business could generate billions of dollars a year in sales with high profit margins by the mid-2030s. The slate of deals “is a great statement of confidence that this industry is right around the corner within a couple of years,” Krishna said.
Krishna cited recent advanced simulations of proteins on IBM quantum computers that could aid dr-g discovery as an example of the sector’s progress.
Quantum executives said the amount of time it takes to make advancements in the field is falling thanks to the investments and research breakthroughs such as more powerful chips.
The other quantum startups expected to receive funding are Atom Computing, PsiQuantum and Quantinuum.
Last year, PsiQuantum raised $1 billion from investors including 1789 Capital, a venture firm in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. 1789 also backs Vulcan Elements, the rare-earth magnet startup the government has also invested in.