Story perspectives

Commerce Dept Grants $2 B to Boost U.S. Quantum Industry

5/21/2026

Summary

IBM Receives $2B

On May 21 2026 the Commerce Department announced a $2 billion grant and equity program for nine quantum firms.
IBM will receive $1 billion and add $1 billion for the Anderon quantum chip foundry in New Albany.
The CHIPS-Science Act-funded package will give GlobalFoundries $375 million for a unit, D-Wave, Rigetti and Infleqtion each $100 million, Diraq up to $38 million, lift shares 7-31 percent, and aim to secure supply chains, counter China, and create U.S. jobs.

Summary

Commerce Dept Grants

The Commerce Department will grant up to $100 million to each of seven firms to address challenges in five modalities.
Atom Computing, D-Wave, Infleqtion and Diraq (up to $38 million) will receive funds for neutral-atom, superconducting, optical and silicon-spin qubit development.
The Commerce Department will keep a minority equity stake and accept proposals under announcement 2025-NIST-CHIPS-CRDO-01 as PsiQuantum, Quantinuum and Rigetti each receive $100 million for photonic and trapped-ion technologies and superconducting readout.

History

Historical Context

In the early 2000s DARPA funded the first quantum-key-distribution network of ten nodes, establishing a U.S. quantum communications testbed. That effort paved the way for later milestones like the 2021 700-fiber Chinese network and the 2026 Commerce Department’s $2 billion grant to IBM, GlobalFoundries, D-Wave, Rigetti and Infleqtion to counter foreign competition.

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IBM Receives $2B

On May 21 2026 the Commerce Department announced a $2 billion grant and equity program for nine quantum firms.
IBM will receive $1 billion and add $1 billion for the Anderon quantum chip foundry in New Albany.
The CHIPS-Science Act-funded package will give GlobalFoundries $375 million for a unit, D-Wave, Rigetti and Infleqtion each $100 million, Diraq up to $38 million, lift shares 7-31 percent, and aim to secure supply chains, counter China, and create U.S. jobs.

1 / 3