WASHINGTON, May 21 — United States (US) President Donald Trump's administration has agreed to take US$2 billion (RM7.92 billion) in equity stakes across nine quantum-computing companies, including a new IBM venture, as part of its broader push to shore up the domestic supply chain and counter China in crucial sectors.
The move shows the growing prominence of quantum computing, where recent technological breakthroughs have deepened investor interest in its potential to speed up processes ranging from drug discovery to financial modelling and cryptography.
On Thursday, the US Department of Commerce said that IBM would receive US$1 billion (RM3.96 billion) to set up a new company dedicated to manufacturing chips for quantum computers, while contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries would get US$375 million (RM1.48 billion) to build a domestic factory capable of producing components for several different types of quantum machines.
Other firms, including D-Wave, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion, will each receive about US$100 million (RM396.2 million), while Diraq will receive up to US$38 million (RM150.5 million) to address key technical hurdles that have held back the development of more powerful quantum computers.
Shares of companies involved in the deal rose between three per cent and 24 per cent in early-morning trading.
The funding will come from incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed by former president Joe Biden.
The move marks the latest intervention in corporate America by the Trump administration as it seeks to bolster strategic industries amid growing competition from China.
Last year, the government converted some CHIPS Act grants and unpaid federal incentives into a 10 per cent stake in Intel, making it the chipmaker's largest shareholder. It has also taken a big stake in the rare-earth mining company MP Materials.
"These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Uncertain timeline for quantum computers
Quantum computers are designed to process information exponentially faster than traditional supercomputers, though the technology still faces major technical hurdles including high error rates that limit their practical performance.
Estimates on when the machines will be ready for practical use vary widely. Last year, NVIDIA chief executive officer (CEO) Jensen Huang said that "very useful quantum computers" were likely two decades away.
Under Thursday's deal, IBM said it would launch a company called Anderon in New Albany, New York, that would be America's first dedicated quantum chip manufacturing facility. It did not disclose the government's stake in the new company.
IBM will make a contribution of US$1 billion to Anderon. It will also provide intellectual property, assets, and workforce to Anderon and attract additional investors as the new company scales.
GlobalFoundries said it has launched a new business called Quantum Technology Solutions focused on scaling manufacturing for quantum-computing hardware, while the US government agreed to take an equity stake of about one per cent in the company.
Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella told Reuters that the investments underscored the technology's growing potential.
"The government has proven to not fund thus far technologies they would deem as speculative, and I believe that this investment really does further validate that quantum computing is coming much faster than anybody thinks," he said.
