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2h ago

PsiQuantum Breaks Ground on Chicago Quantum Campus After $1 Billion Raise

State backing paired with federal evaluation underscores Chicago's push into quantum computing.

A view of a PsiQuantum Wafer, a silicon wafer containing thousands of quantum devices, including single-photon detectors, manufactured via PsiQuantum's partnership with GlobalFoundries in Palo Alto, California, U.S., in an undated photo taken in March 2021. PsiQuantum/Handout via REUTERS
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Jeremy O'Brien, of PsiQuantum, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park at Lake Michigan south of East 87th Street in Chicago on Sept. 30, 2025. Gov. JB Pritzker, right, attended. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Overview

  • The new facility will anchor the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park at the former U.S. Steel South Works site on Chicago’s South Side.
  • Construction begins with an intermediate-scale quantum test system that will be assessed by DARPA under its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
  • The Series E financing backed by Blue Owl Capital totals $1 billion, ranking among the largest U.S. quantum investments disclosed this year.
  • Illinois officials say $700 million in taxpayer funds has been committed to bolster the quantum hub and broader redevelopment effort.
  • PsiQuantum is advancing a photonic, semiconductor-based approach and says the site could eventually host a million‑qubit, fault‑tolerant system, with funding also supporting work at a partner site in Australia.