Story perspectives

IBM adds 750 Chicago quantum, AI jobs, launches MIT lab

4/30/2026

Summary

IBM Quantum Growth

IBM will create 750 AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing jobs at Chicago’s Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, hiring one-third of graduates from a 500-person apprenticeship, with projected $20 billion impact.
IBM and MIT opened the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab in Cambridge to develop supercomputing and a quantum computer by 2029.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said the IBM Quantum System Two and FutureNow Chicago center will cement the state’s quantum leadership.

Summary

Community Groups Draft

Community groups drafted an agreement promising job creation and neighborhood development for the quantum park.
Some South Side residents oppose the project, warning it could cause harm and accelerate gentrification.
State officials allocated $500 million to the quantum park, including $200 million for a cryogenic plant, while PsiQuantum secured a $200 million tax incentive.
The IBM Chicago center will open in the Quantum Works building in 2028, linking an apprenticeship pipeline to campus.

History

Historical Context

After Mihail Roco proposed the National Nanotechnology Initiative in 1999, President Bill Clinton secured its launch in 2000 with the first federal budget in FY2001. Subsequent boosts, such as the 2003 Bush-signed $3.63 billion act, raised cumulative NNI spending to over $45 billion, seeding university nanotech hubs that today underpin Illinois’s Quantum and Microelectronics Park.

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IBM Quantum Growth

IBM will create 750 AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing jobs at Chicago’s Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, hiring one-third of graduates from a 500-person apprenticeship, with projected $20 billion impact.
IBM and MIT opened the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab in Cambridge to develop supercomputing and a quantum computer by 2029.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said the IBM Quantum System Two and FutureNow Chicago center will cement the state’s quantum leadership.

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