U.S. finalizes $1 billion award for IBM’s Anderon as first wafers run

The U.S. Department of Commerce finalized a $1 billion CHIPS and Science Act award for Anderon on September 16, 2026, moving IBM’s quantum-foundry project beyond its earlier proposal stage. Anderon also said that its first quantum wafers were running through the facility in Albany, New York.

IBM has committed another $1 billion in cash to Anderon, alongside intellectual property, assets and skilled personnel. Taken together, the federal award and IBM’s stated cash contribution represent $2 billion in project cash commitments.

From proposal to federal award

The project began publicly on May 21, 2026, when IBM and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a letter of intent for Anderon and a proposed $1 billion CHIPS incentive. At that stage, the support was still part of a planned agreement.

The September announcement changed that status: the Department of Commerce finalized the $1 billion award, while Anderon reported that wafers had entered its manufacturing process. The development gives the project both a completed federal funding agreement and an operating manufacturing milestone.

Anderon is an IBM company structured as a standalone, pure-play quantum foundry. In this context, “pure-play” means a manufacturing business focused on fabricating quantum hardware for quantum-technology vendors, rather than simply serving as an internal IBM research line.

What Anderon is building in Albany

Anderon’s facility is designed around 300-millimeter wafer processes. Its initial focus is superconducting quantum hardware: arrays of superconducting qubits, the components used to send signals into and out of quantum systems, and parts of the readout chain such as amplifiers and filters.

The process technology also includes superconducting wiring, through-silicon vias and bump bonds. Those features connect different layers and parts of a device, while process-design kits, in-line wafer testing, characterization and baseline process routes are intended to give customers a repeatable manufacturing path.

The business model is meant to support multiple quantum-technology vendors. Anderon has also said it plans to expand into other quantum modalities in the future, although its current stated focus remains superconducting hardware and supporting electronics.

Why a dedicated quantum foundry matters

Quantum companies often need specialized fabrication before they can turn a laboratory design into a repeatable hardware platform. Anderon is meant to separate that manufacturing work from the teams developing quantum systems, giving those customers access to a dedicated wafer process.

That is the strategic significance of the project: IBM is not presenting Anderon merely as another research facility, but as manufacturing infrastructure for a broader quantum ecosystem. IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna has tied the effort to the company’s experience with silicon-wafer fabrication, while Anderon CEO Mukesh Khare said the federal agreement strengthens the company’s ability to deliver the manufacturing scale the industry needs.

IBM’s own quantum roadmap targets a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer for commercial clients by 2029. Anderon is intended to support that roadmap, but the funding agreement and early wafer milestone do not turn the target into a guaranteed delivery date.

What the September milestone means

The concrete milestone is that Anderon said its first quantum wafers were running through the facility on September 16. That places the project in an initial manufacturing phase, with the company beginning to process wafers for its stated quantum-hardware focus.

The announcement is significant because it links the finalized federal award to activity inside the facility, rather than describing Anderon only as a future project. It also shows how the project has advanced since May, when IBM and the Department of Commerce announced proposed support under a letter of intent.

The milestone concerns wafers moving through the facility. It does not describe a production volume, a yield rate or a schedule for commercial shipments.

The project’s timeline

The next stage is the manufacturing work itself: turning Anderon’s 300-millimeter process, superconducting-qubit focus and supporting readout components into a repeatable foundry service for quantum-hardware developers.