IBM buys HRL Labs from Boeing, GM to add second quantum track
What's the deal? IBMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has agreed to buy HRL LaboratoriesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a private quantum computing research lab jointly owned by BoeingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and General MotorsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the company said. IBM did not disclose a price, but said Boeing and GM "will continue to partner with IBM" on quantum technologies after the deal.
Who is HRL? Based near Malibu, California, HRL is the former research arm of aerospace firm Hughes Aircraft. It makes electron spin quantum circuits, known as "qubits."
What's the endgame? The acquisition adds a second pillar to IBM's quantum efforts. IBM, like Google, has backed superconducting circuits; the deal adds a spin-based approach that can be built much smaller using the same chip-fabrication equipment.
Why now? IBM is racing Google, Microsoft, and others to build practical quantum machines that solve problems conventional computers would take thousands of years to crack. In May 2026, the Trump administration said it would award $1 billion to IBM to set up a chip factory, Anderon, in New Albany, New York, to serve US quantum firms.
What's next? HRL's team, which currently makes chips in California, will start producing them at IBM's facility in New York, said Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research. He called HRL's spin qubit team "the strongest in the world" and said the smaller circuits will become useful after IBM's superconducting "Blue Jay" system arrives in 2033.
The signal: How quantum computers will ultimately work remains unsettled, with companies chasing a half-dozen circuit designs. "The future is going to be (electron) spins, or superconducting, or possibly a combination of them," Gambetta said — and IBM's two-track bet mirrors Google's move this year to add a neutral-atom technology alongside its own.
Read more: Channel NewsAsia
