The Trump administration is expanding the government’s burgeoning investment portfolio, announcing this past week that it will award grants to nine quantum computing companies, including a new IBM (IBM) venture, in exchange for equity stakes.
With the investment, quantum technology — a sector garnering intense investor interest despite questions about its near-term commercial viability — is set to join the administration’s portfolio of investments which already spans semiconductors, steel, nuclear energy, and rare earth minerals.
The move also underlines the growing prominence of quantum computing in national security.
The Trump administration has emphasized national security in its varied investment moves over the last year. Describing them as a means to both turn a profit and support strategic industries, the administration engineered a “Golden Share” in US Steel as part of the agreement to approve Nippon Steel’s (NPSCY) purchase, as well as taking an 8% stake in nuclear power company Westinghouse.
The most prominent investment so far has been in Intel (INTC).
Since that deal was announced last August, the US-based chipmaker has hit record highs and netted the US an unrealized profit north of $40 billion, which Trump has been quick to tout.
“Congratulations to the People of the United States for making such a good investment,” the president posted to Truth Social last month.
Similarities between Trump’s investments in rare earths and quantum computing
Perhaps the most direct parallels to the quantum computing awards can be found in the government’s deals involving rare earth mineral miners and refiners. The US has struggled to compete with Chinese dominance in that sector, which produces essential ingredients for modern electronics.
Over the past year, the US has taken stakes in an array of rare-earth companies such as magnet maker Vulcan Elements, mining company MP Materials, and another called USA Rare Earth.
All told, the Trump administration has equity stakes of between 5% and 15% in at least five different rare earth companies.
Those deals appear similar in quantity and structure — government grants offered to a variety of riskier start-up-type companies in return for minority equity stakes — to how the quantum computing deals will be structured.
Even the IBM deal invests not in IBM itself but in a new venture that will set up what the company is calling the nation’s first specialized quantum chip manufacturing facility in Albany, New York.