IBM Unveils Company’s First Quantum Computer In Illinois At Hyde Park Labs

HYDE PARK — Computing giant IBM on Friday unveiled its first quantum computer in Illinois as the company and Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated what they called a “major milestone” in establishing the state as a hub for quantum technology.

The IBM Quantum System Two is now online at Hyde Park Labs, 5207 S. Harper Ave., a University of Chicago-affiliated tech hub at the Harper Court development.

Quantum System Two will be temporarily housed at Hyde Park Labs before moving to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in South Chicago when that development is completed.

“This announcement today marks a major milestone in our march toward becoming a global leader in quantum computing,” Pritzker said. “[The Quantum System Two] is a powerful new tool for science, for industry, for the possibilities that honestly haven’t even been imagined yet.”

Quantum computing refers to the use of cutting-edge quantum, small-scale technologies in computers. Such computers have the potential to work faster and answer more complex problems than traditional supercomputers, according to IBM.

IBM’s computer will power the National Quantum Algorithm Center, a development center for quantum algorithms and applications that will be accessible to scientists and non-quantum companies.

“As impressive as the hardware is, the real value of quantum computing is actually when we start to discover algorithms and problems that will eventually matter for the industry, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” IBM research director Jay Gambetta said.

Research projects in progress through the center involve pharmaceutical discovery, power grid efficiency and high-energy physics, with partners including Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Fermilab, Deloitte and AbbVie, officials said.

UChicago researchers also announced in July that experiments using the Quantum System Two had demonstrated “quantum advantage” — meaning it performed accurate computations unachievable through traditional computing.

“We’re able to bring some of the greatest minds in the world to the important promise of quantum computing and quantum technologies,” UChicago president Paul Alivisatos said.

IBM announced earlier this year that its FutureNow Chicago hub at the South Side quantum park will create 750 full-time jobs, of which 250 have been hired so far, Pritzker said this week.

The positions will include at least 250 app developers, 150 software developers and 80 data analysts as well as technical leaders and administrative positions, according to state records.

The company in April signed an agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, requiring it to create the jobs by the end of 2030 in exchange for an estimated $19 million in state income tax credits.

The quantum campus is “a powerful new opportunity for economic growth here in Illinois, and with a transformation that’s this big, I intend to make sure that our working families and communities in our state are at the core of the success that is brought,” Pritzker said Friday.

Beyond the 900 combined jobs announced by IBM and fellow quantum campus tenant PsiQuantum, Pritzker could not confirm numbers of full-time jobs pledged by any other quantum campus tenants or partners, the governor said Friday. It’s a similar response to the one he gave when Block Club asked the same question in April.

“I don’t want to make promises,” Pritzker said during a press conference following the announcement. “I can only tell you that the companies that we’ve talked to have really been talking about hundreds of jobs, and that will lead to more jobs, because the development of technology is really happening much faster than I think many people had expected.”

Pritzker said repeatedly during the announcement that the state aimed to create “thousands of jobs” and attract billions of dollars of investment related to quantum research. Brad Johnson, CEO of tech nonprofit P33, said the group forecasted 177,000 quantum jobs in the region by 2035

Some South Siders have organized for a community benefits agreement in an attempt to get developers, tenants and government officials to put their promises around job creation and neighborhood development in writing.

Other residents of South Chicago and nearby communities have praised the development’s potential for economic development in a community that has experienced disinvestment since the local steel industry collapsed.

Still others have organized in total opposition to the project, citing concerns over environmental harm and gentrification.

______________________________________________________________________

Support Local News!

Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.