The Morning Download: IBM, Government Launch Quantum Chip Venture

Good morning. There’s so much happening in AI, that it’s easy to overlook the pace of progress in quantum computing. The technology is still in the development stage, but companies anticipate commercially viable quantum computers in the next few years.

In anticipation, the groundwork for a U.S.-based quantum chip-making industry is taking shape now.

As the Journal reported yesterday, the Trump administration is awarding a total of $2 billion in grants to nine quantum-computing companies in deals that include U.S. government equity stakes. IBM is receiving $1 billion.

IBM said that the $1 billion CHIPS incentive from the Commerce Department will support a new IBM company called Anderon, based in Albany, N.Y. IBM said it will contribute an additional $1 billion in cash, as well as intellectual property, assets, and a skilled workforce, and that it expects additional investors to participate as the project grows. “This initiative represents one of the most significant commitments by the U.S. Government to date in quantum R&D to position the United States to manufacture most of the world’s quantum wafers,” IBM said in its statement.

That news drove IBM shares 12% higher on Thursday, Barron’s reports, helping propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first record close since February and they were up again this morning in premarket trading.

Editor’s Note: The Morning Download won't be published Monday in observance of Memorial Day in the U.S. We will be back Tuesday.

“Right now, we're in an environment of super leadership,” private equity investor Orlando Bravo said Tuesday in conversation with Collective[i] co-founder and Chairperson Heidi Messer.

Speaking to the Economic Club of New York, Bravo said super leaders have three defining traits. They share extreme attention to detail as well as the maturity to distinguish between reversible and irreversible decisions, moving quickly on the former and deliberately on the ones that can’t be changed. They also have a high degree of flexibility and openness, Bravo said.

“The division between expertise and common sense has dissolved. And that was the biggest barrier, the biggest impediment to progress in AI,” NYU AI researcher and data scientist Vasant Dhar said Wednesday at The Drawing Room, an AI event in New York.

“AI remained in very specialized domains, specific applications like medical diagnosis … or engineering … where you could say 'Define the boundaries,' even though they weren't really definable, right? A physician uses common sense all the time.”

— Steven Rosenbush

• President Trump postponed the signing of an executive order that would have given the government more oversight over the artificial-intelligence industry on Thursday, saying he didn’t want to take any action that would slow the U.S. down in the AI race.
• The same day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at studying how artificial intelligence affects employment and exploring ways to help displaced workers.The state is a hotbed of the AI industry but also home to huge technology companies with workers who are losing jobs due to AI investment.
• Lenovo Group said revenue surged 27% to $21.60 billion for the three months ended March, driven by strong demand for AI-enabled devices and AI infrastructure.
• Workday's first quarter earnings beat Wall Street expectations with stronger-than-anticipated subscription revenue growth, causing shares to surge 10.5% in premarket trading, Barron's reports. The stock has dropped 43% in 2026 amid worries that AI tools will reduce the need for certain specialized applications.

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Follow Isabelle Bousquette on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and TikTok for more behind the scenes on her tech and AI coverage, and lately, her contributions to the WSJ Leadership Institute's new Executive Resilience series, where she's profiling America's top execs about their fitness and wellness habits.

Follow Belle Lin on LinkedIn and X for her latest reporting on enterprise technology and AI.

Steven Rosenbush is chief of the enterprise technology bureau at the WSJ Leadership Institute. He also has a column. You can follow him on LinkedIn.

Tom Loftus is the editor of The Morning Download. He suggests following Isabelle, Belle and Steve on their various social channels. But if you insist, here's his LinkedIn.