World-first PsiQuantum aims to be Qld’s version of Project Apollo bringing 400 jobs to Brisbane
An Aussie start-up backed by nearly $1bn in taxpayers funds plans to build a utility scale quantum computer in Brisbane aimed at being Qld’s version of the “Project Apollo” that put men on the moon.
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A world-first quantum computer backed by nearly $1bn in taxpayers funds to be built in Brisbane has been labelled as Queensland’s version of the space program that put men on the moon.
PsiQuantum, a US-based quantum computing start-up helmed by two Australians, has secured nearly $1bn in equity and loans from the federal and Queensland governments to build the world’s first utility scale quantum computer.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to Brisbane on Tuesday to make the announcement alongside Premier Steven Miles.
The project has been spruiked as creating 400 jobs, though PsiQuantum co-founder and chief executive Professor Jeremy O’Brien said it “has not been determined” how many of those workers would be Australian and how many brought over from the United States.
It is understood the computer will be built on land within the Brisbane Airport precinct and is still some years away.
PsiQuantum received about $470m in equity and loans each from the Queensland and federal governments — but the split in equity and loans is unknown due “commercial in confidence” sensitivities.
PsiQuantum has raised more than $1bn from global investors like Blackbird, Blackrock GlobalFoundries, Microsoft M12 and Temasek — the Singapore Government’s investment arm.
In 2023 PsiQuantum announced a partnership with the United States Department of Energy to develop advanced fridges for its machines and opened its first research and development facility in the United Kingdom backed by $17m in government funding.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said securing PsiQuantum’s Asia Pacific Headquarters and bringing the intellectual capability to Queensland was akin to the state’s own “Project Apollo”.
“For Queensland, this is our Project Apollo, as Project Apollo impacted space travel and all the scientific and technological advancements that came from that are still delivering generations later,” he said.
Industry Minister Ed Husic defended the process for granting PsiQuantum access to taxpayer funds amid criticism from the federal Opposition over a “secretive process”.
Mr Husic said there was a “methodical process” to assess which companies were closest to hitting “scale maturity and capacity for spillover effects”.
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