French firm Pasqal announces U.S. headquarters at South Chicago’s quantum computing park

French company Pasqal will establish its U.S. headquarters at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, former home of the U.S. Steel South Works site that is now transforming into a massive tech campus.

Pasqal plans to invest more than $65 million into its facility, where it will build a quantum computer powered by neutral atom technology. The quantum computing company will also create at least 50 jobs that span a variety of skill levels, said Wasiq Bokhari, executive chairman of Pasqal’s board.

Bokhari said during a Thursday press conference, alongside Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, that it was an easy decision for Pasqal to establish its U.S. presence at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. Pasqal will join other firms at the park such as IBM, Diraq, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Infleqtion.

“[The] Chicago area and the state of Illinois is an epicenter of scientific discovery and innovation,” Bokhari said. “In my mind, there are very few places in the whole world that come even close to the kind of capabilities” of Illinois.

Founded in 2019, Pasqal builds and commercializes quantum computers that are powered by neutral atom technology. It has more than 300 employees worldwide and operates subsidiaries in eight countries, according to a news release.

Its founders include Dr. Alain Aspect, who in 2022 won the Nobel Prize for experiments that helped pave the way for quantum computers, quantum networks and quantum-encrypted communication.

Pasqal’s U.S. headquarters is being supported by the state’s Manufacturing Illinois Chips for Real Opportunity Act, a business incentive program. Its award has an estimated value of more than $6 million, according to state records.

Pasqal also received a $15 million loan from the Illinois Finance Authority/Climate Bank.

Pasqal will lease about 6,000 square feet at the quantum park. The company will operate out of a temporary location in Cook County while construction is underway, according to its agreement with the state.

Pasqal’s facilities at the campus will include a small-scale manufacturing assembly plant, office space and a research and development lab.

The quantum computing park broke ground Sept. 30. The park is being anchored by Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum, which will build the country’s first utility-scale quantum computer.

The quantum campus will include a cryoplant and equipment labs, alongside research and office spaces for local universities and private companies. As the park’s anchor tenant, PsiQuantum will occupy a 80,700-square-foot office and research building.

The 128-acre Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is estimated to have an economic impact of $50 billion over the next 20 years and create thousands of new jobs on the South Side.

Pritzker has bet big on quantum technology, which creates infinite combinations of the binary bits used by computers to calculate larger and more complex problems. It could lead to the manufacturing of new medical drugs and make sensitive data almost impermeable to hacking, among other possibilities touted by experts.

Pritzker has previously said he wants Illinois to become the Silicon Valley of quantum computing. With Pasqal, a global leader in quantum computing, joining the park, the governor said the state has taken “another major step forward” in its quest to become a leading hub for quantum development in the U.S.

“Pasqal’s decision should inspire confidence in every quantum optimist in Illinois and around the world in the potential for our state and the potential of quantum,” Pritzker said.

Charlotte Montel, consul general of France, hinted that another French quantum company is interested in joining the campus but didn’t name the firm.

“The Illinois ecosystem is growing stronger and stronger … with every new addition to the IQMP and to the Illinois area,” said Preeti Chalsani, chief quantum officer for Illinois Economic Development Corporation. “This will give Illinois residents jobs opportunities and ignite reinvestment in a neighborhood that needs it, and it will be transformative for all of Illinois and for the world.”