Colorado won a $40.5 million quantum technology grant from the federal government to help make the state a worldwide center in the emerging field, Gov. Jared Polis announced Monday, as one of 12 awards after a highly competitive sprint for the money. USA.
The award cements Colorado’s leadership in quantum computing, which relies on supercooled operations at an atomic level, and will unlock $74 million in state tax credits approved pending a federal grant win, Polis said. That in turn could attract billions of dollars in private investment and partnerships in the field, which already employs thousands of people in Colorado, Polis said.
“America is, rightly, making a bet on the future of computing, and Colorado is that bet,” Polis said. “And we’re going to make sure it pays off, not just for Colorado, but for the country and beyond.”
Colorado economic development and technology officials had identified the state’s big start in quantum research as the most promising path when it joined nearly 200 national applicants seeking federal awards from the Commerce Department’s Regional Technology and Innovation program. The centers were approved as part of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
Applicants requested money for one of 10 technologies identified as key to future US research and development. The state applied for up to $75 million in additional federal funding in February, months after the Biden administration named Colorado an official technical center for quantum computing.
A group called Elevate Quantum formed a consortium of private quantum companies, investors, startups and universities, including the University of Colorado and the Colorado School of Mines. At least three Boulder-area companies are building their own quantum computers in a race to deliver more qubits, akin to computer data. The quantum industry could bring $3 billion in funding to Colorado over the next decade, officials say, plus provide jobs for 30,000 future workers at various levels of education and training.
Colorado’s enthusiasm for quantum technology was reinforced on a recent trade mission to Finland, Polis said Monday. The Scandinavian nation is an international leader in the field, and Colorado has a memorandum of understanding for research.
“We certainly hoped that our country would not lead in this area to the rest of the world,” Polis said. “And yes, with this decision, the United States of America is making a clear statement that we are serious about America being a leader in quantum technology. Colorado is the place to invest and make it happen.”
Gaining additional funding means House Bill 1325, passed by the Legislature this year, begins providing up to $74 million in state tax credits for the quantum industry. Fully refundable tax credits will be available to offset the costs of building a shared quantum facility or to financial lenders lending to quantum companies if there is a loan loss.
Quantum, which refers to the science of down-to-the-atom probabilities and technology that can speed up complex computer calculations, has a long history in the Boulder region. In the 1950s, the National Institute of Standards and Technology chose Boulder for a research facility. NIST, which needed quantum measurements because they needed to measure the most precise and sensitive things in the world, later joined with the University of Colorado to create the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in 1962.