The Trump administration is “pumping” $2 billion into a heavy bet on “quantum computing”! Taking stakes in IBM and 9 other major companies, concept stocks surged wildly as much as 25% before the market opened.

The U.S. government directly becomes a shareholder! According to a report by The Wall Street Journal today (21st), the Trump administration is planning to invest approximately $2 billion directly into nine quantum computing technology companies, including IBM, and will acquire equity stakes in some of these companies. This move, continuing the policy of "government as shareholder," not only caused related quantum concept stocks to surge up to 25% before the market opened but also announced that the tech war between China and the U.S. has officially extended from traditional semiconductors to the new battlefield of "quantum computing," which is crucial for the future of AI.
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  • IBM takes $1 billion alone, quantum concept stocks explode across the board
  • Continuing the "government as shareholder" strategy, sharing technological dividends with all citizens
  • Targeting China! Quantum computing is vital to AI and national defense

The global frontier of technological arms race reaches a new high! To secure its dominance in next-generation computing technology, the U.S. government has decided to step in as a "major shareholder" of tech giants and startups.

According to the latest report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on May 21, 2026, the Trump (Donald Trump) administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, plans to allocate a total of about $2 billion in funding to nine companies related to quantum computing.

IBM alone receives $1 billion, quantum stocks surge across the board

This massive funding mainly comes from the U.S. CHIPS Act research and development fund, managed by the reorganized office led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Based on the disclosed allocation details:

  • IBM: emerges as the biggest winner, receiving about $1 billion in funding, which is expected to be related to its "Anderon" quantum chip factory project supported by the Commerce Department, and may involve equity agreements.
  • GlobalFoundries: receives about $375 million.
  • Quantum startups: including D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion, each will receive about $100 million; smaller startups like Diraq will get approximately $38 million.

Notably, while disbursing these hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, the U.S. government will also acquire minority equity stakes in these startups. Under the positive news stimulus, the stock prices of these quantum computing companies surged in pre-market trading, with increases ranging from 7% to 25%.

Continuing the "government as shareholder" strategy, sharing technological dividends with all citizens

This is not the first time the U.S. government has "invested" in private tech companies. It is a continuation of the "government-as-shareholder" industrial policy vigorously promoted by the Trump administration. Previously, the U.S. government had invested nearly $8.9 billion in troubled chip giant Intel, acquiring about 10% equity.

The core logic of this policy is: since large amounts of taxpayer money are used to support high-risk, high-potential cutting-edge technology, when these technologies achieve significant commercial success in the future, American taxpayers should share the "tech dividends" through government equity holdings, rather than just providing unconditional grants. (Note: Details such as exact equity ratios and warrants are still under final confirmation.)

Targeting China! Quantum computing is crucial to AI and national defense

Why is the U.S. government so obsessed with "quantum computing"?

In the current geopolitical landscape, quantum computing is regarded as the most disruptive strategic technology. Its computing power jumps exponentially, capable of significantly accelerating drug discovery and new material development, and serving as the ultimate weapon to push the next generation of AI beyond current computational bottlenecks. Through substantial strategic investments and equity binding, the U.S. government is trying to build an impregnable moat to prevent competitors like China from overtaking in the quantum field.

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