On May 21, 2026, the US Department of Commerce and IBM announced a Letter of Intent to establish Anderon, America's first purpose-built quantum foundry in Albany, New York. This initiative will be supported by a proposed $1 billion CHIPS Act award from the DoC, with IBM contributing an additional $1 billion in cash, intellectual property, assets, and skilled workforce. Anderon is designed to anchor a national ecosystem for quantum wafer manufacturing, aiming to solidify US leadership in the new quantum industry, which is estimated to generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040.
This significant investment is part of a broader government strategy to boost the American quantum ecosystem and ensure national security. IBM, leveraging its decades of expertise in quantum computing and silicon wafer fabrication, will help Anderon build a secure, US-based supply of quantum wafers for multiple hardware vendors. Initially, Anderon will focus on wafer fabrication for superconducting qubit and supporting electronics wafers, with plans to expand to other quantum modalities.
The Department of Commerce's initiative, framed by Secretary Howard Lutnick as leading the world into a new era of American innovation, involves an unusually direct bet on the quantum industry. The government signed Letters of Intent to provide approximately $2.01 billion in CHIPS Act funding to nine quantum companies, in exchange for a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each. For instance, IBM is set to receive $1 billion for Anderon, while GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million for a second foundry award. Other companies like D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion are each in line for up to $100 million.
This approach differs from traditional research grants, positioning the federal government as a venture investor with a stake in the commercial success of these companies. The equity component, a Trump administration addition, reflects a policy choice to treat quantum not just as a public good but as a strategic asset for financial participation. This strategy aims to bridge the domestic hardware fabrication gap, reducing reliance on foreign manufacturing for quantum components, similar to the motivations behind the CHIPS Act for conventional semiconductors. While the market reacted positively, with IBM shares climbing 12% and smaller quantum names soaring over 30%, analysts caution that the sector remains high-risk and driven more by potential than current profits.
IBM's Chairman and CEO, Arvind Krishna, emphasized that Anderon, with the support of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will be well-positioned to fuel America's rapidly growing quantum technology industry. Bill Frauenhofer, Executive Director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation, highlighted the significant implications of quantum computing for national defense, advanced materials, biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling, and energy systems, underscoring the strategic importance of these investments.
