The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently announced that it has begun a new initiative to benchmark quantum computing algorithms and applications and assess the feasibility of building an industrial quantum computer. This Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) stemmed from two of the agency’s programs: Quantum Benchmarking and Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing.

On Tuesday (July 16th) local time, JB Pritzker, the Governor of Illinois, announced that Illinois had signed a memorandum of agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create a Quantum Proving Ground within the state's quantum computing campus. DARPA will use the proving ground to test quantum computing prototypes as part of its new Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. Pritzker also said that Illinois and the federal government would contribute up to an additional $140 million in funding for the proving ground.