Tennessee attracting quantum teams with $3M fund

(The Center Square) – Tennessee officials are establishing a $3 million funding commitment to attract quantum computing teams to the state, according to the governor's office. The program announced Monday would provide National Science Foundation X-Labs quantum teams up to $3 million, workforce development, and partnerships with state industries, national laboratories, universities and utilities, the governor's office said. Gov. Bill Lee added a separate $43 million to the fiscal year 2027 budget to "accelerate Tennessee's quantum computing industry by attracting substantial federal and private-sector investment and to translate our scientific strengths into durable, high-wage job creation across advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and logistics industries." "Over the past few years, Tennessee has earned the reputation as having one of the strongest quantum ecosystems in the country," Lee said in a statement. "This investment will help ensure that the companies developing tomorrow's quantum technologies will choose our state to grow, cultivate high-quality jobs and bring new innovations." The state's economic arm for startups, known as LaunchTN, is giving companies that are awarded National Science Foundation X-Labs grants priority for matching state funds, according to the governor's office. "Tennessee is uniquely positioned to help quantum companies move from breakthrough research to real-world deployment," said Deputy Governor and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter. "We're shifting our economic development strategy from simply recruiting projects to orchestrating ecosystems where companies and innovators can access the partners, infrastructure, and talent they need to succeed, and today's announcement signals a clear message that we're ready to do so." The National Science Foundation, a federal agency, defines quantum technologies as those that "make use of quantum properties (such as entanglement and superposition) found in particles of matter and energy, like atoms and photons. This allows quantum sensors to detect finer details and quantum computers to potentially solve problems that would otherwise take years, or even centuries, to tackle." The National Science Foundation's X-Labs are researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs. The foundation announced $1.58 billion in grants for companies researching quantum systems.