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PsiQuantum Is Building the World's First Utility-Scale Quantum Computer in Chicago. Here's What That Actually Means.

A 300,000-square-foot facility on the South Side, $500 million in state funding, and a startup betting everything on photonics. The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is moving faster than anyone expected.

Written by Marcus Wren · Bureau Business · Jun 19, 2026

A Former Steel Site, Now a Quantum Campus

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park sits on 128 acres on Chicago's South Side, on land that used to belong to U.S. Steel. Plans were announced in July 2024. Ground broke in September. Construction crews are already up on a 300,000-square-foot building — nearly seven acres under one roof — that will house PsiQuantum's first utility-scale quantum computer.

For a state not known for moving fast on infrastructure, that timeline is notable. The $500 million in state funding includes $200 million earmarked for a cryogenic plant that will serve PsiQuantum and other tenants.

What PsiQuantum Is Actually Building

Most quantum computing companies are building incrementally — adding qubits, running noisy intermediate-scale systems, and hoping the path to fault tolerance becomes clearer as they go. PsiQuantum is not doing that.

The company is building for fault tolerance from the start, which requires having nearly the entire technology stack ready before the first machine ships. That's a harder problem to front-load, but it means the path to scaling afterward is more straightforward. As interim CEO Victor Peng puts it: once the first system works, replication is clear.

PsiQuantum uses photonics — computing with particles of light — rather than the superconducting qubits used by IBM, Google, and Amazon, or the trapped ions used by Quantinuum. Among major players, only Toronto-based Xanadu shares that approach.

The photonics choice has a practical supply chain advantage: PsiQuantum is manufacturing its chips with GlobalFoundries, which has the capacity to mass-produce the hundreds of thousands of chips a full-scale quantum computer will require. The company is also building a prototype Alpha system in Milpitas, California, to configure and test its technology before Chicago comes online.

The Timeline Has Slipped

PsiQuantum previously suggested a useful quantum computer could be ready as early as 2027. The company now says hardware won't begin moving into the Chicago facility until 2026, which implies a longer runway to operational status. A second facility of similar scale is also under construction in Brisbane, Australia.

Peng is direct about the tradeoff: the company's approach requires more time upfront, but the scaling path afterward is more predictable than for competitors who are hitting walls as they try to grow noisy systems into fault-tolerant ones.

What the Park Is Actually Building Around It

PsiQuantum is the anchor, but the IQMP already has five other publicly committed tenants: IBM, Pasqal, Diraq, Quantum Machines, and Infleqtion. DARPA's Quantum Proving Ground will operate there. So will the National Quantum Algorithm Center, a partnership between the state, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and IBM.

IBM announced in April that it plans to create 750 jobs in quantum technologies, AI, cybersecurity, and data science tied to its IQMP presence, with apprenticeship programs running through City Colleges of Chicago.

Governor JB Pritzker has been explicit about the workforce pipeline he's trying to build — not just quantum scientists, but cryogenic systems engineers, fabrication technicians, and software developers. Illinois schools awarded more than 33,000 quantum-relevant degrees and certificates in 2024, according to a report by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition.

The Operational Reality

Building a quantum computer at this scale is a facilities and logistics problem as much as a physics problem. PsiQuantum needs cryogenic infrastructure, clean rooms, precision chip manufacturing, and fiber optic integration — all coordinated across a supply chain that barely existed five years ago.

The Chicago facility is large enough to house what could be the world's first utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer. Whether PsiQuantum gets there first is genuinely uncertain — at least a dozen credible competitors are running the same race. But the physical infrastructure is going up, the funding is in place, and the supply chain partnerships are real. That's further along than most of this industry has ever been.

Key takeaways

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park broke ground in September 2024 on the former U.S. Steel site on Chicago's South Side — one of the faster public-private infrastructure timelines in recent Illinois history.
PsiQuantum's approach differs from most competitors: it is skipping incremental 'noisy' quantum systems and building for fault-tolerant scale from the start, which means longer lead times but a clearer path to replication.
The company is manufacturing its photonics-based chips with GlobalFoundries, giving it a mass-production pathway that most quantum competitors lack — and potential IP value in optical computing beyond quantum.
Hardware won't move into the Chicago facility until 2026, pushing back earlier projections of a useful quantum computer by 2027.
IBM has separately announced 750 jobs tied to its IQMP presence, and the park will host DARPA's Quantum Proving Ground and the National Quantum Algorithm Center.

FAQ

What makes PsiQuantum's approach different from IBM or Google's quantum efforts?

PsiQuantum uses photonics — computing with light particles — rather than superconducting qubits. More importantly, it is building for fault tolerance from the start rather than scaling up through noisy intermediate systems. That requires more upfront development time but is designed to make large-scale replication more straightforward once the first system is operational.

When will the Chicago quantum computer actually be ready?

PsiQuantum says hardware will begin moving into the Chicago facility in 2026. The company previously suggested a useful quantum computer could arrive as early as 2027, but that timeline has extended. A prototype Alpha system is currently being tested at a facility in Milpitas, California.

What is the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, and who is funding it?

The IQMP is a 128-acre innovation campus on the former U.S. Steel site on Chicago's South Side. Illinois committed $500 million in state funding, including $200 million for a shared cryogenic plant. PsiQuantum is the anchor tenant, with IBM, Pasqal, Diraq, Quantum Machines, and Infleqtion also publicly committed.

What federal funding has PsiQuantum received?

In May 2025, PsiQuantum received $100 million under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, with the federal government taking a minority stake. The company also progressed through multiple rounds of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative and raised $1 billion in a November 2024 funding round that valued it at $7 billion.

What kinds of jobs is the IQMP expected to create?

Governor Pritzker has pointed to a range of roles beyond research scientists: cryogenic systems engineers, fabrication technicians, quantum software developers, and technical marketing and business development staff. IBM alone has announced plans for 750 jobs tied to its IQMP presence, with apprenticeship programs through City Colleges of Chicago.

Citations

Quantum computing is growing—in Chicago!—and PsiQuantum keeps racking up winsThe Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is a 128-acre campus on the former U.S. Steel site on Chicago's South Side, backed by $500 million in state funding, with a 300,000-square-foot building nearing completion for PsiQuantum's anchor facility.
Quantum computing is growing—in Chicago!—and PsiQuantum keeps racking up winsPsiQuantum raised $1 billion in a November 2024 funding round valuing the company at $7 billion, and received $100 million under the CHIPS and Science Act in May 2025.
Quantum computing is growing—in Chicago!—and PsiQuantum keeps racking up winsPsiQuantum is collaborating with GlobalFoundries to manufacture silicon photonics chips at scale, and hardware will begin moving into the Chicago facility in 2026.
Quantum computing is growing—in Chicago!—and PsiQuantum keeps racking up winsIllinois schools awarded more than 33,000 quantum-relevant degrees and certificates in 2024, according to the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition.