International Business Machines (IBM) shares have registered an advance of close to 7% on the New York Stock Exchange after the United States Government made public a plan to allocate around 2 billion dollars (1.725 billion euros) to the purchase of stakes in companies linked to quantum computing.
Within this program, IBM will be the main beneficiary, concentrating approximately 1 billion dollars (862 million euros) from the US Department of Commerce. These funds will be used to support the creation of a new manufacturing plant for chips specific to quantum computing, according to information released by the Bloomberg agency.
In Thursday's session, IBM shares are trading on the US market at a price of 240 dollars, above the 225 dollars per share with which they closed the previous day.
The rest of the investment will be distributed among other firms in the quantum ecosystem, within the framework of a program to boost the sector promoted by the Donald Trump Administration, which contemplates taking stakes in selected companies.
GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer that produces chips designed for quantum computing, has indicated that it will receive a total of 375 million dollars (323 million euros). For their part, companies such as D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, Infleqtion, and PsiQuantum have applied for aid of up to 100 million dollars (86 million euros).
Quantum computing is considered a technology still in its early stages which, according to specialists, could open the door to new capabilities in fields ranging from drug development to computer encryption systems, which is pushing various governments to increase funding for this area.
Although most projects are currently in the research phase, experts warn that their future evolution could pose a risk to national security, by calling into question the systems that protect banking and governmental information.