Former U.S. Steel South Works site to be transformed into quantum computing park (2024)

Steelmaking dates back millennia and was first commercialized on a mass scale in the mid-19th century.

U.S. Steel South Works at the mouth of the Calumet River on the far South Side became the largest steel mill in the world in the 19th century and was long the economic heart of Chicago's Southeast Side.

But the massive lakefront site has lain fallow since the mill was shuttered in 1992, leaving behind only the ruins of a massive iron ore wall where ships once deposited the raw material needed for steelmaking.

Now the site of one of the world's oldest industries will become home to one of the newest, according to plans announced Thursday.

Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum plans to develop a quantum computing park at the site of the former steel mill that once employed thousands, raised skylines and peopled the Southeast Side with immigrant labor hungry for opportunity.

The quantum computing company plans to build the firstutility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in the United States there after lining up $1 billion in incentives. The company is partnering with the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois and Cook County to develop the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park or IQMP.

PsiQuantum will anchor the park, which is meant to boost the state's already developing quantum ecosystem. TheUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, the Chicago Quantum Exchange, the Argonne and Fermi national labs and DARPA, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency, are all are involved in quantum computing, which deals with quantum mechanics phenomena at the level of the atom and can do complex calculations significantly faster than traditional computers.

“Quantum computers have held theoretical promise for decades, but it’s infrastructure projects like the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park that are required to develop this technology and scale from hype to reality," said PsiQuantum CEO and co-founder Jeremy O’Brien in a news release announcing the project. "Governor J.B. Pritzker and Illinois understand what’s needed to unlock quantum computing’s potential, and we’re thrilled to partner with them and anchor the state’s quantum strategy with the first utility-scale quantum computer in the United States at this iconic location”

Illinois is committing $500 million next year to develop the quantum park, including by investing $200 million in a cryogenic plant that will cool the quantum computer.PsiQuantum will serve as the anchor tenant, occupying 300,000 square feet.

Other companies are expected to follow.

The state, city and county are offering more than $500 million in incentives over 30 years to develop the operation. Pritzker hopes to make Illinois a leader in quantum computing, securing federal grants and hoping to foster the next Silicon Valley.

“Considering the endless potential quantum computing technology holds, it is crucial that we commit to quantum partnerships, research and infrastructure across our nation. In Illinois, we’re leading the charge with this first-of-its-kind quantum park to unite stakeholders, experts, and future generations of quantum leaders," Pritzker said. "I’m grateful that PsiQuantum will be our anchor tenant as we launch this exciting collaboration to create the jobs of the future, and PsiQuantum choosing Chicago cements our status as a global hub for quantum computing.”

The goal is to create a utility-scale quantum computer with 1 million qubits. It would be able to generate highly precise answers to computation problems that could be used by a variety of industries such as agriculture, pharma, energy, financial services, materials and manufacturing.

“PsiQuantum’s investment in the City of Chicago is a groundbreaking leap into the future, making our city the proud home of America’s first utility-scale quantum computer,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “This monumental project will revolutionize the fields of medicine and clean energy, creating countless jobs and driving economic growth. Together, we are ushering in a new era of innovation, equity and sustainability for the South Side, solidifying Chicago’s place as a global hub for technological advancement.”

PsiQuantum will collaborate with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University on research projects and look to incorporate the quantum computing into educational programs. The company expects to create 150 jobs for highly educated workers, including people with PhDs in quantum physics, engineers, software developers and lab researchers.

“We’re excited to be partnering with PsiQuantum and the Governor’s office to make the IQMP the leading quantum computing hub in the world. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign along with our other university partners will be working closely with PsiQuantum in the build-out of the cryogenic plant that will support the first US-based utility-scale quantum computer,"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones said. "This collaboration with the PsiQuantum team will bolster Illinois’ quantum workforce and scale this technology into a new quantum reality.”

PsiQuantum is based in Palo Alto, which is considered "the birthplace of Silicon Valley," according to the news release. It's developing projects in San Jose, New York state and the United Kingdom and has longtime relationships with DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratories, the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies. It also secured a $620 million incentive package earlier this year to build the first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane, Australia.

It plans to develop quantum computers in both Australia and on Chicago's far South Side.