The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is launching a major effort to advance quantum computing, with a state investment of $25 million to help build a new research facility in Cambridge.
MIT president Sally Kornbluth and Gov. Maura Healey announced plans Thursday morning for the Quantum Systems Laboratory during a campus event.
“Everything you can think of that uses classical computing now, think about quantum speeding it up, making it more efficient,” Kornbluth explained. “We think about the AI revolution and the expenses of AI and data centers. This is going to be impacted by a whole new different way of computing.”
Healey framed the investment as especially significant at a time when federal support for science research is shrinking, and access to some grants is tightening or shifting to other parts of the country.
“Different universities will be able to tap into this,” Healey said. “We already know it’s going to be really beneficial to the UMass system.”
“Quantum is the next revolution,” she added. “It is going to basically speed up the way we’re able to process information and that means that we’re going to more quickly solve some of these challenges around climate, around health and wellness, around security.”
MIT and the Healey administration estimate the project will create more than 160 construction jobs in the short term, and more than 220 permanent jobs once the lab opens.
The state investment will match federal dollars already supporting quantum research at MIT. Construction is expected to begin later this summer, with the lab slated to open in December 2027.
The announcement comes as research universities nationwide grapple with two related pressures on the higher education industry: declining federal funding support and a weakening talent pipeline.
Earlier this month, Kornbluth said federal research dollars are not flowing at their usual pace. In a video message to the campus community, she said private funding is nowhere near enough to offset the roughly 20% drop in federal support MIT is facing. University-sponsored research, she said, is down 10% from this time last year.
“That is a striking loss for one of the most influential and productive research communities in the world,” Kornbluth said.
MIT is also confronting enrollment pressures. Kornbluth said the university saw nearly a 20% drop in new graduate students this year and expects that trend to continue next year.
Research universities across the country have raised concerns about funding uncertainty, immigration policy and visa restrictions affecting international students.
Some conservative-led states and even private institutions in left-leaning states are restricting international students’ access to scholarships.
On Thursday, Kornbluth told GBH News MIT’s decline in international graduate enrollment is “not due to restrictions that we’re putting in place at this point.”
“It’s due to concerns about being able to stay in the country,” she said. “We’re trying to continue our outreach through our alumni networks, through all of our discussions to keep MIT in these students’ consciousnesses as a possible opportunity.”
She said MIT still has a strong domestic talent pool to support the quantum initiative but stressed the importance of maintaining global access.
“We want to be open and available to the very best talent around the world,” Kornbluth said.
