- Silicon Valley created a massive regional economy when it became the center of the computing industry.
- As the quantum computing era begins, five locations are poised to become the next tech hot spot.
- Major quantum hubs are being built in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
When Silicon Valley became the center of the computing industry in the 1970s, a regional economy worth trillions of dollars cropped up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, as the era of quantum computing gains momentum, five cities across the country are poised to become the next tech hot spot.
Quantum computing is a burgeoning field that leverages quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than is possible using classical computers.
With researchers optimistic that breakthroughs in the field could revolutionize medicine, data privacy, and more, quantum hardware manufacturing and software development has attracted major investments from tech giants including IBM, Google, and Microsoft, as well as smaller players like D-Wave, IonQ, and Rigetti — and the economic stakes for becoming a hub for the new tech are major.
The quantum industry attracted $1.2 billion from venture capitalists in 2023 despite a 50% drop in overall tech investments that year, according to research by Boston Consulting Group. A recent report from the market intelligence firm Resonance projected the global quantum computing market could add more than $1 trillion to the global economy over the next 10 years.
The tech sector is known for driving massive economic growth. The regional think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley recently reported the Bay Area achieved an unprecedented market cap of $14.3 trillion in 2024, with an unemployment rate more than a full percent lower than the rest of the state.
"That is for real — when people centralize in a place, and those people also have other needs serviced by the local economy, it creates growth across not one sector, but in many sectors, and it creates a shared prosperity." Russell Hancock, the president and chief executive of Joint Venture Silicon Valley told Business Insider.
Hancock said the economy that grew around Silicon Valley did so in part because of its proximity to major research institutions like Stanford and UC Berkeley that spurred innovation, in addition to its real estate market — which at the time was startup-friendly.
"I think it's valid to think of Silicon Valley not just as a place but to think of it as a phenomenon," Hancock said. "The phenomenon is composed of a massive focus on technology, accompanied by innovation and entrepreneurship and risk-taking."
Silicon Valley just isn't the exclusive location where that phenomenon is happening these days — especially for the quantum industry. Here are five locations where the conditions are right to build Qubit County, the new quantum capital of the nation.
Santa Barbara, California
The coastal city of Santa Barbara is already home to Google's Quantum AI Campus in addition to Microsoft's Station Q research headquarters, which is located on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.
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UC Santa Barbara is also home to a next-generation foundry that develops the materials and interfaces needed to power quantum-based electronics.
Santa Barbara is located less than two hours north of Los Angeles, where UCLA researchers are focused on quantum science developments. In 2024, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he'd awarded UCLA $200 million in state funds to transform the former Westside Pavilion Mall into a research facility that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering.
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is home to the Chicago Quantum Exchange based at the University of Chicago, one of the world's largest collaborative teams working on quantum science through partnerships with more than 50 corporate, international, and nonprofit organizations.
The city is also the site of the forthcoming multibillion-dollar public-private partnership known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, which will include shared cryogenic facilities, equipment labs, and research spaces to further advance quantum technology.
IQMP is projected to generate $20 billion in economic impact and create thousands of jobs, according to a press release about the project. The state of Illinois is investing $500 million in its development.
"Gov. Pritzker of Illinois has been extremely active on this front," Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni told Business Insider, describing the city of Chicago as one of the "potential centers" of quantum tech for the country, if not the world.
Boston, Massachusetts
At GTC this year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced his company's plans to build a quantum research lab in Boston to partner with researchers from MIT and Harvard.
"It will likely be the most advanced accelerated hybrid quantum computing research lab world," Huang said.
Boston is already home to QuEra Computing, a startup building quantum computers based on neutral atoms. Last year, The Boston Globe reported the state's spending bill earmarked $40 million to build a "quantum innovation hub" in the Pioneer Valley, about two hours West of Boston.
"I think that the Boston area has a very interesting collection of companies and educational institutions that could end up being a very important location for the industry," Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave told Business Insider.
College Park, Maryland
Margaret Arakawa, IonQ's Chief Marketing Officer, told Business Insider that her company, headquartered in Maryland, believes the state will become "the capital of quantum" by building a partnership with the University of Maryland the way Silicon Valley entrepreneurs partnered with Standford and UC Berkeley academics.
"We want to work with companies and universities that are building out not just research, but actual implementation and building of the quantum computers and the networks," Arakawa said. "So we look at the University of Maryland, and all of the government officials, academia, the businesses, the association of physicists, and we think Maryland is actually chock full of all the right elements to create the capital of quantum."
UMD, based in College Park, is a hub for quantum research and development and home to the Quantum Startup Foundry, an accelerator that supports entrepreneurs and startups in bringing quantum technologies to market.
In January, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the "Capital of Quantum" Initiative — a $1 billion public-private partnership to "cement Maryland as a global leader in quantum information science and technology."
Boulder, Colorado
Three of Colorado's most prominent universities — the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University, and the Colorado School of Mines — earlier this year partnered with the Elevate Quantum Tech Hub to launch a 13,000-square-foot quantum incubator in Boulder.
The Department of Commerce in 2023 designated Elevate Quantum as one of only two tech hubs in the country focused on advancing quantum technologies, per a press release from Sen. Michael Bennet. The tech hub has also been awarded $40.5 million in federal funding to support the development of a leading quantum ecosystem.
The Boulder Quantum Incubator builds on momentum from a 2024 bill passed in the state to encourage economic growth in the quantum sector. According to a Quantum Insider report, the law is projected to create over 10,000 quantum-related jobs in the state within the next decade.
Matthew Kinsella, CEO of the quantum technology company Infleqtion, told Business Insider that the development of a nationwide quantum capital will likely depend on state and local government supporting the creation of a local ecosystem to propel the tech forward.
"And I think places like Colorado and Chicago are pretty high on that list," Kinsella said.