IBM commits $10B to quantum computing as race for fault-tolerant systems heats up

IBM has announced it will invest more than $10 billion in quantum computing over the next five years, covering research and development, manufacturing, ecosystem partnerships, and acquisitions. The commitment follows a separate agreement with the US Department of Commerce, which will channel $1 billion toward IBM specifically, the largest individual allocation among nine quantum companies the government recently signed letters of intent with.

That federal funding goes toward a new subsidiary called Anderon, which IBM describes as the first pure-play quantum foundry in the United States. Anderon will manufacture 300mm quantum wafers, operate as a standalone company, and set up headquarters in Albany, New York. IBM is matching the government’s $1 billion contribution, bringing Anderon’s initial funding to $2 billion before the broader five-year investment kicks in.

The target IBM is working toward is a fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029, which the company believes will be the first of its kind at large scale. That milestone sits at the end of a roadmap IBM has been building toward for years. In February 2025, the company reported booking $1 billion in cumulative quantum business between early 2017 and the end of 2024, a figure that suggests commercial demand is already running ahead of what the technology can currently deliver reliably.

Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM, framed the investment around momentum rather than aspiration. “The quantum era is no longer ahead of us, it has started,” he said, pointing to clients and partners already using IBM quantum computers for work that was not possible a few years ago.

On the infrastructure side, IBM is also moving ahead with a major physical expansion. The company filed plans to develop a 511,000 square foot facility at its existing quantum campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, where it will manufacture and assemble its next-generation Starling quantum systems. Two existing buildings will come down to make room for the new center.

The convergence of private capital, federal funding, and manufacturing infrastructure tells a fairly clear story. IBM is not treating quantum computing as a long-horizon research project any longer. It is building the physical and financial foundation to deliver at scale, and the 2029 fault-tolerant target gives the entire investment a concrete deadline to work toward.