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Palo Alto-based startup PsiQuantum is coming to Chicago to build and operate quantum computers — bringing up to 150 jobs in the first five years and at least $1 billion in investment as it anchors a massive quantum campus to be developed at the site of the former US Steel South Works plant on Chicago’s Southeast Side, the company and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced Thursday.
PsiQuantum, a Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) corporate partner that aims to build the first US-based, utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, will construct a 300,000-square-foot Quantum Computer Operations Center on the state’s groundbreaking campus near the mouth of the Calumet River. That campus, the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, will also include the multimillion-dollar DARPA-Illinois Quantum Proving Ground that was announced last week.
Flanked by government, corporate, and academic leaders during a Thursday afternoon news conference at the long-empty South Works industrial site, Pritzker welcomed PsiQuantum to Chicago, celebrated the economic boost the development would offer Chicago's Southeast Side, and hailed the first-of-its-kind campus as "a monumental step forward for quantum in the state of Illinois." A University of Illinois-led organization will manage the project on behalf of the State of Illinois.
"Right here beneath our feet will be a catalyst for a potential revolution in science and technology and the betterment of life for all humankind," Prizker said. "We intend to drive innovation on a history-altering scale and provide unprecedented economic opportunity for the people of this great city and state. I'm also very excited to be joined today by some of the brilliant minds that are powering that work, including — and especially — our first anchor tenant of this park, PsiQuantum. PsiQuantum brings years of foundational research ... and shares in our vision for quantum as a powerful force for good."
The development cements Chicagoland's position as a global hub for quantum innovation and is the latest in a string of high-profile wins for a regional quantum ecosystem the CQE community has been instrumental in building. Launched in 2017 as an intellectual hub for the science and engineering of quantum information, the CQE has played a critical role in connecting academic, industry, and government partners to advance research, build the future quantum workforce, and develop a robust, inclusive, and sustainable quantum economy.
“We are delighted to welcome CQE partner PsiQuantum to our vibrant region, and we look forward to their residency, and DARPA’s, on the new quantum campus on Chicago’s South Side,” said David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Physics at the University of Chicago and the director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. “The quantum campus is an example of what an ecosystem can achieve with solid government support and a culture of collaboration and partnership. The CQE has played a leading role in launching and developing this rich cross-sector community over the last decade, and it will continue to partner with industry leaders to integrate quantum technology into different sectors as technology advances.”
Pritzker has been a key champion of this effort, allocating $500 million for quantum technologies in the FY2025 state budget. Much of that was earmarked for the campus, which will include shared cryogenic facilities, equipment labs, and research spaces for both private companies and universities.
PsiQuantum will partner with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, and Northwestern University — all CQE members and affiliates — to collaborate on research projects and explore opportunities to develop educational programs in quantum applications. Founded in 2015, PsiQuantum uses single particles of light, or photons, as the basis for its quantum computing technology, an approach it says enables it to leverage the existing reliability, volume, and precision of standard semiconductor manufacturing processes and cryogenic cooling technology.
“Quantum computers have held theoretical promise for decades, but it is infrastructure projects like the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park that are required to develop this technology and scale from hype to reality,” Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “Governor Pritzker and Illinois understand what’s needed to unlock quantum computing’s potential, and we’re thrilled to partner with them and anchor the state’s quantum strategy with the first utility-scale quantum computer in the United States at this iconic location.”
At the news conference, O'Brien spoke of the transformative potential of quantum computing and likened it to the impact that industrial plants like US Steel (which changed its name to USX in the 1980s) had in previous generations.
"It's been a long time since this plant hummed with industry, yet just like that US Steel facility, quantum computing will be the fulcrum of a new innovation community," O'Brien said. "It will serve as a foundation for critical industry in Illinois and across the United States, stirring a new industrial revolution. These systems will allow us to simulate, calculate, and understand the behavior of materials, chemistry, physics, and information at a level that no conventional computer will ever rival. The potential applications are vast and transformative. From developing new life-saving drugs and next-generation batteries and solar cells, this quantum computer will change how the world lives, works, and heals. And that machine will be built here in Chicago — a new beacon of innovation and progress."
The Chicago region has already attracted more than $1 billion in government investment for quantum technologies in recent years, including the half billion FY2025 Illinois budget allocation and a previously announced $200 million for quantum technology facilities. In addition, Pritzker recently announced a business development package that includes quantum tax incentives. The Chicago area also received $280 million for four of the 10 National Quantum Initiative Act research centers, more than any other region. The CQE community has also attracted significant corporate investment, including $100 million from IBM and $50 million from Google to the University of Chicago and University of Tokyo in two separate plans to advance quantum computing.
“The CQE community is fueled by the deep commitment of its partners, as well as a strong industry base that includes regional quantum startups like EeroQ, qBraid, memQ, QuantCAD, Quantopticon, Great Lakes Crystal Technologies, and Infleqtion; a breadth of sectors ripe for quantum technology adoption; and one of the nation’s largest quantum-ready talent pipelines,” CQE CEO Kate Timmerman said. “PsiQuantum, DARPA, and other future tenants of the quantum campus will benefit from — and amplify — these and our ecosystem’s many other advantages.”
Last week, Pritzker and federal officials announced that the State of Illinois had partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — a US Defense Department agency that invests in breakthrough technologies for national security — on a quantum proving ground that will also reside on the quantum campus.
The campus is expected to offer a significant economic boost to Chicago’s South Chicago neighborhood — and it is projected to create thousands of jobs and generate up to $60 billion in economic impact.
“PsiQuantum’s investment in the City of Chicago is a groundbreaking leap into the future, making our city the proud home of America’s first utility-scale quantum computer,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “This monumental project will revolutionize the fields of medicine and clean energy, creating countless jobs and driving economic growth. Together, we are ushering in a new era of innovation, equity, and sustainability for the South Side, solidifying Chicago’s place as a global hub for technological advancement.”
The CQE, which is based at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, includes seven member institutions — the University of Chicago, the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University — and about 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners. The CQE also leads two projects aimed at strengthening the regional quantum ecosystem: The Bloch Quantum Tech Hub and the NSF Engine Development Award: Advancing quantum technologies in the Midwest.
"When economists study healthy innovation ecosystems, they find that at the core there are always a combination of great research institutions and universities," University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos said at the Thursday news conference. "By working together, we can do this with PsiQuantum, and we can do even more to build out the ecosystem that is all around us."