US To Award $2 Billion To Quantum Companies, Take Equity Stakes (thequantuminsider.com) 27
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Quantum Insider: The Trump administration is preparing a new round of industrial policy aimed at quantum computing, with roughly $2 billion in grants expected to go to nine companies developing quantum hardware and related technologies. According to Reuters, citing a Wall Street Journal report, the U.S. Department of Commerce plans to distribute the funding through deals that also give the federal government equity stakes in the companies receiving the awards. The approach would expand Washington's increasingly direct involvement in sectors viewed as strategically important to national security, advanced manufacturing and competition with China.
Reuters reported that IBM is expected to receive the largest share of the package at about $1 billion. Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries is slated to receive approximately $375 million, according to the report. Other recipients are expected to include D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, Quantinuum and Infleqtion, with each company potentially receiving around $100 million, Reuters reported. Australian quantum startup Diraq could receive about $38 million, according to the Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters. Fast Company notes in its reporting that IBM will invest the funds it receives into a new IBM company called Anderon. It will also match the grant with another $1 billion in cash.
"Anderon will operate as a state-of-the-art 300-millimeter quantum wafer foundry," IBM stated in an announcement. "It will help the nation solidify its leadership at the center of a thriving new quantum industry that is estimated to generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040 and spur American economic growth while also bolstering national security."
Quantum computing stocks soared after the news. As of publication, IBM is up about 9.7%, D-Wave is up about 28.1%, and Rigetti is up about 26.7%. Meanwhile, Global Foundries rose about 13.8% and Infleqtion jumped about 30.9%.
Reuters reported that IBM is expected to receive the largest share of the package at about $1 billion. Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries is slated to receive approximately $375 million, according to the report. Other recipients are expected to include D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, Quantinuum and Infleqtion, with each company potentially receiving around $100 million, Reuters reported. Australian quantum startup Diraq could receive about $38 million, according to the Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters. Fast Company notes in its reporting that IBM will invest the funds it receives into a new IBM company called Anderon. It will also match the grant with another $1 billion in cash.
"Anderon will operate as a state-of-the-art 300-millimeter quantum wafer foundry," IBM stated in an announcement. "It will help the nation solidify its leadership at the center of a thriving new quantum industry that is estimated to generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040 and spur American economic growth while also bolstering national security."
Quantum computing stocks soared after the news. As of publication, IBM is up about 9.7%, D-Wave is up about 28.1%, and Rigetti is up about 26.7%. Meanwhile, Global Foundries rose about 13.8% and Infleqtion jumped about 30.9%.
And republicans... (Score:5, Insightful)
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The Republican Party hasn't been about small government for quite a while now! (Individuals who identify as Republican, by contrast, often still are.)
That's the real disconnect.... NEITHER party is about anything but getting more power or control for themselves and playing favorites with private sector businesses they have personal reasons to favor.
It's not strictly Communism because we still support the idea of the private sector. Anyone can start their own small business and not expect government to swoo
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"its not just me, its everybody else", is complete horse shit.
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Umm, I never said I was offering a solution here. I'm just identifying a problem. And the problem is a lot bigger than "Trump". He's just the latest one in the line-up.
It's pretty clear we've had a long string of shady deals and the public being kept in the dark on what our government is really doing.
Only reason you can try to pretend the whole problem is the Republican Party is the fact they've been in a power a lot. I'm old enough, though, to remember how awful things were under the Carter administrati
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.... NEITHER party is about anything but getting more power or control for themselves and playing favorites with private sector businesses they have personal reasons to favor.
The current context is the federal government buying shares in companies. Both parties have supported such moves, but I daresay for different reasons.
The first Obama administration, for example, took a position in Detroit auto-makers to keep the industry afloat. Arguably it made sense, because it was a large industry that employed lots of people. And the federal government divested itself of its positions entirely by late 2013.
Now for the present day. I don't need convincing that quantum computing has enorm
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Remember when they made Jimmy Carter sell his peanut farm?
Meanwhile https://www.citizensforethics.... [citizensforethics.org]
Any Republican that crosses Trump (Score:2)
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Mamdani: Democratic Socialist
Trump: Undemocratic Socialist
What about the killer quantum algorithms? (Score:2)
Aren't they funding research for those?
Global Foundries rose about 13.8% (Score:2)
Is it the bears of quantum computing causing the rally?
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It's the ones that soared just before that concern me.
Awesome! (Score:2)
Billions of dollars poured into research to build a Quantum Computer that's really good at random number generation!
Just what a D&D dungeon master really needs!
But... can it play Doom full screen? Can it play a 4K Blu-Ray?
Can I install Sony Vegas on it and get instantaneous render times?
This isn't actually that controversial (Score:2)
For once the government seems to simply be investing in a tech policy decision at home. Globally most of the west, and a significant portion of the rising 3rd world has public funds investing in quantum computing. The US's $1bn commitment is tiny in comparison here.
Now if only they didn't try and kill every other industry they touched. Forward thinking investment in tech in general is not something an administration that is actively supporting backwards technologies, failing businesses, and reducing progres
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The only question is, who made this decision and how long before Trump kills it, fires those involved and calls them bad names on social media.
It depends if they're able to convince him that he will own the equity stake, at least for long enough for him to forget about it altogether and focus on the next invasion/grift/scandal.
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I'm ok with the government investing as long as it's voted upon. Who voted for this?
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I'm ok with our government investing in businesses/industries. I think it is a good thing.
I do have some concerns:
Was this funding authorized by Congress?
How were the individual businesses selected?
Will the money be a loan or will it be a grant?
Will the government hold shares in the company stock? If so: will the government get a seat on the board? will there be dividends paid? will the government be able to sell its shares on the market? when and under what circumstances?
How will the businesses be treate
Do we know ... (Score:2)
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Re:of entanglements such funds entail? (Score:1)
Half of RFK is salivating over eating Schrodinger Roadkill.
Others would call this (Score:2)
Seizing the means of production.
just once (Score:2)
Can't the news story come out AFTER I purchase the stock. I should already have owned shares in GF already. This is probably just an insider trading deal. If the Trump admin's back-office finance team purchases a ton of undervalued stocks, and then Trump hands the companies behind those tickers a few billion in public money, is it a crime?
It's a crime. As is giving public money to people who tried to overthrow the government. But that's neither here nor there.