IBM shares surge 7% on $2B quantum chip foundry deal

IBM shares surged 7 percent on Wall Street after the company announced a $2 billion partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish Anderon, what IBM describes as the first pure-play American quantum chip foundry. The deal includes $1 billion in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act, which IBM will match with an additional $1 billion in cash, along with intellectual property, assets, and skilled workforce. The foundry, headquartered in Albany, New York, will operate as a 300-millimeter quantum wafer facility serving multiple quantum hardware vendors. The announcement is part of a broader U.S. initiative committing $2 billion in federal funding to nine companies to build a domestic quantum computing industry. Beyond IBM, GlobalFoundries received $375 million to launch Quantum Technology Solutions, which will manufacture the full quantum hardware stack including cryogenic readout and control chips. Seven quantum computing firms also received funding, with Quantinuum securing $100 million for low-loss integrated photonics fabrication. The Department of Commerce said the investments aim to solve critical technology challenges in developing utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the strategic quantum technology investments will create thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities. The CHIPS R&D Office noted it is taking a portfolio approach to strengthen U.S. leadership across multiple quantum modalities. The quantum industry is projected to generate up to $850 billion in economic value by 2040, with significant implications for national defense, advanced materials and biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling, and energy systems.