CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[jpIllInoIs]

Rahm Emanuel crafts $150 million quantum computing research deal with U. of Chicago, U. of Tokyo
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said the deal between the universities in Chicago and Tokyo with Google and IBM “puts Chicago in the lead in the field of quantum.”
By Lynn Sweet May 18, 2023, 7:00pm CDT

"What this means for the city of Chicago is this, Emanuel said: “This puts Chicago in the lead in the field of quantum. The University of Chicago is now one of the premier schools worldwide in quantum research, which will pay dividends for generations economically.”

The emerging field of quantum computing, according to the Department of Energy, “may revolutionize our ability to solve problems that are hard to address with even the largest supercomputers.”

Emanuel was aware from his time as mayor that the U. of C. was already a leader in the area of quantum information and technology, so he asked the Tokyo school president, “What do you think about a partnership?”

After that, Emanuel said he reached out to Tom Pritzker, whose family charities have heavily supported research at the U. of C. — in 2019 the Pritzker Foundation pledged $100 million for the new Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, which has made quantum technology a focus.

To get to the bottom line, Emanuel said he promised to find “new funding” — that turned out to be IBM and Google — to make the quantum computing collaboration a reality.

IBM is giving, over 10 years, $100 million to develop — according to the U. of C. — “the world’s first quantum-centric supercomputer.” Google is putting up $50 million to, again according to the U. of C., “support quantum computing research and to help train the quantum workforce of the future.”

“In our faith, we would call it matchmaking,” Emanuel told me about his role in taking this project from a concept to raising the $100 million and $50 million to make it happen.