State, county, city announce 'leap of faith' quantum computing facility in Chicago

(The Center Square) – The State of Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago have announced that the new Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park will be built on former U.S. Steel property on Chicago’s Southeast Side.

The South Works site has been mostly dormant since the mill closed in 1992. In opening the announcement of the project Thursday, and to the backing by taxpayers, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called it a "leap of faith."

"The General Assembly understood that we had a great opportunity but they also knew that making an investment of this kind can be groundbreaking and was something that was timely and important to do right now," Pritzker said.

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the legislature has prioritized fiscal stability, connecting the power of the past with the promise of the future.

“And here we are: we’ve gone from chaos to quantum. How’s that for a turnaround agenda?” Harmon asked.

The Illinois General Assembly allotted $700 million of taxpayer funds for the quantum park. The city of Chicago and Cook County are each kicking in $5 million from taxpayers.

County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said a government reflects its values by how and where it invests its tax dollars and resources.

“Today’s historic announcement reflects a significant commitment by state and local units of government to a neighborhood, a community of color, that has long been marginalized and is overdue for genuine investment,” Preckwinkle said.

PsiQuantum is the company selected to anchor the site, with incentives from state, county and city governments.

According to a statement from PsiQuantum, the package of incentives is worth more than $500 million over 30 years. The company’s headquarters are located in Palo Alto, California.

PsiQuantum CEO Jeremy O’Brien said the Chicago facility will be the fulcrum of a new innovation community.

“These systems will allow us to simulate, calculate and understand the behavior of materials, chemistry, physics and information at a level that no conventional computer will ever rival,” O’Brien said.

The University of Illinois will work along with the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University on the build-out of the project. U of I Chancellor Robert J. Jones compared the development with the invention of the internet, the visible LED or the MRI.

“I challenge you to imagine a societal change at scale and speed even bigger than those three examples,” Jones said.

Officials said they hope to have the facility up and running in 2027.