IBM Receives $1 Billion in Grants from Trump Administration to Develop Quantum Foundry Venture
The Trump administration has announced $1 billion in grants to IBM, along with smaller grants to companies like Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum. The funding will support IBM's quantum foundry venture, Anderon, which will be headquartered in Albany, New York. Anderon is expected to become the first US quantum chip foundry, with a 300-millimeter wafer foundry capable of producing high-quality quantum chips for IBM and other customers.
IBM plans to match the government funding with an additional $1 billion investment, contributing intellectual property, assets, and a skilled workforce. The company believes Anderon will help solidify the US's leadership in the quantum industry, which is estimated to generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040.
Analysts see this development as a major catalyst for IBM, opening a new business line for the company. Patrick Moorhead, Chief Analyst at Moor Insights, notes that Anderon is not a greenfield project, but rather a corporate spinout of IBM's existing quantum fab in Albany. He believes it could become America's first foundry purpose-built solely for quantum manufacturing.
As a result of the news, IBM shares jumped 12.4% on Thursday and gained another 4.6% in overnight trading. The retail sentiment for IBM on Stocktwits shifted to 'extremely bullish' from 'bearish', with traders arguing that as a large technology company, IBM is better positioned for making strides in the quantum sector.