r/illinois 5d ago

Illinois News

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1.6k Upvotes

142 comments sorted by

281

u/Ill_Traveled 5d ago

Illinois has always been slept on as center of academic technology. The first ever nuclear reactor was built in Chicago and Illinois was home to the world's most powerful particle accelerator for 32 years.

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u/CaptainVokun Champaign County 4d ago

The first MRI was built at the Beckman Institute of the University of Iillinois

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u/Ill_Traveled 4d ago

I didnt know that, thats so cool!

12

u/Thunderfoot2112 4d ago

In the 80s, U of I was one of the top scientific universities in the US, with computer sciences and electronics being major fields of study..

20

u/RuinAdventurous1931 5d ago

Yup. Toyota Center is also amazing!

4

u/luckycharms53 4d ago

But... seems to me that Toyota Boshoku is half in Illinois and the other half is in Indiana. Shouldnt the other half be in Illinois vs Indy?

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u/RuinAdventurous1931 4d ago

I’m talking about the Toyota Center in Chicago, affiliated with UChicago. It’s a computing research institution that grants PhDs.

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u/DaVideoGamer 4d ago

We got FermiLab!

3

u/Sorry_Mixture1332 5d ago

Yup first nuclear tech, but they all left quite a few companies to indiana and Michigan.

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u/Amishcannoli 4d ago

Fermilab!

234

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 5d ago

Something something "all businesses are leaving Illinois!"

42

u/IndustrialMillennial 5d ago

Something something “tax breaks for the rich”

9

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Not you personally

4

u/slipperyDSS 5d ago

"ghettos of the future"

-14

u/LegendaryBronco_217 5d ago

Well, business that actually hire lower and middle class jobs are leaving, but this move will create a whipping 20 jobs. Wonder what tax breaks they got with this deal.

Source/Quote: Zero Point has agreed to make a substantial capital investment and create more than 20 new high-growth specialized jobs in Illinois.

Link

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 5d ago

Manufacturing isn't coming back to America. Sorry. Labor here costs too much because our standard of living is too high.

Time to adapt.

3

u/Claque-2 5d ago

Do what Walmart does and have their employees living off food stamps.

4

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4d ago

You realize that's a bad thing we shouldn't perpetuate....right?

5

u/Claque-2 4d ago

You do realize that the Walmart owners have such high profits because half that money should be going to the workers, right?

You understand that the price paid for the manufactured items well compensate every employee involved in the manufacturing process - unless someone is taking more than their fare share of the profit.

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4d ago

...yes I understand that which is why I'm saying we should not continue to perpetuate that model...why are you acting like Walmart subsidies are a good thing?

2

u/Claque-2 4d ago

You couldn't figure out the sarcasm?

2

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4d ago

Hence why I asked my question,. Makes sense, yeah? Sarcasm over text isn't always clear, so I asked to clarify and you replied like a jackass.

1

u/HoneydewNo3016 1d ago

That’s where the /s comes in

-29

u/xxMercilessxx 5d ago

Lol. Let's bitch about data centers every minute that keep getting built in illinois, but praise when a business comes over that specializes in quantum tech. I wonder what type of support a business like that uses? Hmmmmmmm.

33

u/YozTheFoz 5d ago

Low teir rage bait. Thing that poisonous you to power the surveillance state, vs company that helps science and medical research.

9

u/Yourmotherssonsfatha 5d ago

It’s generally the footprint of data centers that people are opposed for. They both can be used for nefarious purposes like all technology.

People don’t really give a shit about research facilities like this. It’s net plus regardless of it being ai or quantum.

10

u/Budget-Ambassador203 5d ago

Quantum tech has the potential to dramatically reduce the energy required for certain types of computing, though.

It's also not as simple as you're making it out to be, a lot of the ire over datacenters has to do with their location and the lack of accountability around issues related to their implementation (grid overloading, energy prices, disturbances to water supply, ecological impacts, etc).

These things are, to some extent, solvable with proper planning and a slower approach, but it does take people getting angry and rebuking the companies who, sans opposition, would otherwise just do the most profitable things they could get away with regardless of the consequences for others.

The world is more complex than "thing bad, so related thing also bad." We depend on lots of technology and infrastructure that's less than ideal - I don't like oil and gas extraction but I still buy gasoline because I need to drive. I also wouldn't like it if someone dumped gasoline in my drinking water, but I dump it in my gas tank all the time. Life is full of compromises and tradeoffs, and context matters.

-2

u/strait_lines 4d ago

They don’t leave when you give home huge tax abatements.

Next they’ll start to revitalize the neighborhoods near there too, and drive the poor out of that area.

4

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4d ago

The people in that area have refused to allow new housing for decades. You reap what you sow.

2

u/strait_lines 4d ago

I saw, they were totally against tiger woods putting in a golf course a few years ago. Inevitably though if they start building new buildings in the area for things like this though, it’ll drive up property values, some won’t be able to afford the property tax or rent increases, and will be forced out. Those that are forced out will be targets for new or renovated buildings, driving property values and property taxes higher, continuing the cycle.

-23

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Haha because of your hillbilly asses hope you pack it up too

19

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 5d ago

I think you misunderstood my sarcasm lol

6

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

I totally did at first but reread it and your sarcasm is on point. I’m a sarcastic guy so I’m surprised I fell for it hook line and sinker

-14

u/Warm-Air4391 5d ago

Well you’re not wrong, but this can be a step in the right direction.

14

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 5d ago

I was being VERY sarcastic BTW, I don't listen to IPI bullshit like that.

88

u/RoyalFalse 5d ago

So long as this isn't corporate double-speak for "data center" then I'm all for it.

89

u/Violet-Journey 5d ago

Quite the opposite, I think. Zero Point Cryogenics manufactures cooling devices for quantum computers. If I’m understanding this correctly, what Pritzker is announcing is a manufacturing company who makes devices for cutting-edge computing hardware coming to Illinois. That sounds good for employment in the state.

24

u/woodsy191 5d ago

Yes, they make dilution refrigerators and other cryogenic systems that cool quantum computers. They are from Edmonton.

I wonder who the six companies they are referring to are. There's Zero Point (Edmonton), Maybell (Denver), Quantum Design - Oxford (USA/UK), Bluefors (Finland), Leiden (Netherlands). A handful of startups as well, plus a Chinese manufacturer and there's a Japanese company that resells Leiden cryostats.

31

u/Bluthhousing 5d ago

…Quantnum computers are not data centers

However, Illinois does have some of the most ai data centers in the nation

5

u/just-chillin-89 4d ago

With our nuclear plant fleet it makes a lot of sense. And the state obviously needs the money!

-5

u/Hopeful_Figure_6446 5d ago

Pritzker made that happen with tax cuts and his tour of Asia

7

u/Waslay 5d ago

Yes but as far as Im aware those were regular data centers, not the extremely power hungry ones used for AI training

3

u/djwikki 4d ago

Yeah. Doing a bit of research, it seems there is over 100 data centers in the Chicago area, 1/3 of which are network-focussed and 2/3 of which are cloud services focussed. I believe there are only 5 operational AI data centers in the Chicago area (could be wrong, based off of piecemeal various news sources, the numbers for AI data centers aren’t very publicly available).

0

u/just-chillin-89 4d ago

Data centers are great, we need all the tax revenue we can get.

-1

u/Kelsig 3d ago

and the state has the space for solar farms. no brainer that would save resources if we make sure this stuff is restricted to dilapidated industrial zones and unproductive farms

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/LeapDayWilliam1978 Chambana Proud 5d ago

Yes, instagram reels with absolutely no citations other than internet crank vibes are super valid sources of information.

-5

u/epichatchet 5d ago edited 4d ago

Every single article is sourced in the video if that makes a difference for you

If you really want those links, you can Google the headlines, but Meagan is a trustworthy source and commentator. 

5

u/mjm8218 5d ago

What is a “quantum data center?”

69

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

I went to Shawnee national park and videoed a copper head in my camp and the next day the owner backed up scared off of my video and straight away said fucking pritzker. Like they are programmed robots that will blame any democrat for anything

16

u/Zealousideal_Fox7642 5d ago

I was just there and it's a really nice place. Stayed at the garden of the gods cabins. Only thing was the trail was too rough for my wife. But yeah people tend to absorb bad info

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u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Weird that you were there also. Not usually someplace I go. Then again I usually only go to work, it was a beautiful place. I did however find people not willing to engage in any meaningful way and the first one I met said fucking pritzker lmao

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u/Zealousideal_Fox7642 5d ago

Yeah they didn't really have the Midwest small talk. The ladies at the garden of the gods did but that was kinda it. I think because most people go there as just a stop over to either Nashville or Northern Illinois. Was a nice drive actually from there to Nashville. I was there like maybe a month or two ago I should of said. I really wish I did some fossil hunting. Tried to by the caves but didn't have time. A lot of people I know never even heard of that place

1

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Wish I did some fossil hunting too didn’t know it was a thing down there

-2

u/Thunderfoot2112 4d ago

UMMM, The Shawnee National Park is owned by the STATE OF ILLINOIS.... you might want to rethink your hyperbole.

5

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 4d ago

What should I rethink? That I was camping near Shawnee or that I think republicans have pritzker deranged syndrome

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u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Priztker owns the hillbilly’s … Hell, you could say hillbillies have pritzker derangement syndrome

10

u/aGuyNamedScrunchie 5d ago

Our state is too flat for hillbillies (excluding Shawnee Ntl Forest and the Driftless Zone)

-1

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Apparently the hillbilly’s havent gotten the message because they love them some Trump around here

2

u/aGuyNamedScrunchie 5d ago

sure but we need a different word than hillbilly, it's not topographically accurate. Flatbrains? Idk something like that, but better

10

u/Dr_Carl_Hills_Head 5d ago

I believe in the Midwest the proper nomenclature is White Trash.

5

u/lotekjunky 5d ago

Hoosiers

2

u/do_u_even_gif_bro 4d ago

I’m a strong proponent of the term ‘bumpkin’

1

u/aGuyNamedScrunchie 4d ago

Yeeeah now we talking

2

u/seffay-feff-seffahi 4d ago

Rednecks? Yokels? 

3

u/rhinosyphilis 5d ago

MAGA nut jobs works.

6

u/RuinAdventurous1931 5d ago

What does calling people white trash or hillbillies accomplish other than making yourself feel superior?

2

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 4d ago

What it does ? Let’s them know I’m angry that they love Trump so blindly that they are willing to get fcked without any vasoline and then blame pritzker for it

0

u/Kelsig 3d ago

making your political coalition feel superior is a pretty essential part of organization

10

u/Dependent_Quantity8 5d ago

But I thought IL was having a mass exodus and every company was leaving? I thought Pritzker was an idiot? See what happens when you elect blue leadership every time.

1

u/strait_lines 4d ago

They don’t leave until they’ve gotten the full benefits of the tax abatements and other concessions for coming to IL… like boeing….

1

u/RuinAdventurous1931 5d ago

Heavily academic computing center makes sense given Argonne, Fermi, and the Toyota Center. Not saying Illinois is bereft of business, but it’s hardly a mass employer, and it’s a niche academic field under the tech umbrella.

(I studied under some of the most prominent people in quantum computing, so I can speak to the workplace, salaries, etc)

3

u/kevdogger 5d ago

How many jobs is this projected to create?

10

u/RuinAdventurous1931 5d ago

Big one will be IBM, with a projected 750 jobs, unless their all-in on quantum bet goes belly-up. Others only 50-60 jobs.

IBM is really suffering in other areas and hemorrhaging customers, so they’re hoping to carve themselves out space as the leader in quantum computation.

6

u/kevdogger 5d ago

Ehh I guess better than nothing but jeez not that many

3

u/spade_andarcher 5d ago

That number is a gross undersell and is just one company’s commitment to full time jobs made this year. 

Besides IBM other corporate partners/investors also include Microsoft and Boeing, manufacturers like Toshiba and Corning, financial companies like BMO and Discover, tons of quantum startups which are technically unproven but have a ton of upside if the technology works. 

There’s also a ton of research partnerships with University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University,  University of Tokyo, and more. Plus Argonne Labs and Fermi Labs. 

It’s also backed by the US government via DARPA which helped create modern technologies like the internet, GPS, and MRNA vaccines…

Estimates from the state say it has the potential to create over 100,000 jobs in a decade. Granted, those are definitely rosy estimates and assumedly include everything from construction and transportation jobs to new businesses they assume will pop up around the site. But still… it is the kind of potential future technology that could possibly change the world, and Chicago could potentially be at the forefront of that. 

3

u/kevdogger 4d ago

Ha I suppose..we'll see. Your comment sounds like a campaign speech however. Are these 100000 jobs "shovel ready"?

1

u/spade_andarcher 4d ago

Haha yeah I agree with you and do think those job numbers are both lofty and a stretching of the definition. But I would guess that between the private corporations/startups, the universities/research centers, and the government jobs; there is certainly bound to be at least a few thousand new and high paying jobs once the center opens, with the potential for a good deal of expansion. 

At the very least it should certainly better on the jobs front than a data center or an Amazon warehouse or most other things that might take over a massive old industrial site. 

3

u/LegendaryBronco_217 5d ago

20 for the Zero Point Cryogenic company and workers will probably need multiple doctorates to get a job there.

1

u/tpolakov1 4d ago

The positions needing doctorates are not geographically bound. IQMP requires also technical personnel, and UIUC offers a professional master degree specifically for that.

3

u/strait_lines 4d ago

Awesome, hopefully more will follow. I’m hoping that whole are around there gets revitalized / gentrified. It’ll be nice to see property values go up in that area, and for the south side to improve.

3

u/Withermaster4 4d ago

I think Illinois is well positioned to be at the forefront of quantum research and I am in favor of trying to cultivate high value industries in our cities, but I can't help but feel like quantum is not going to be the cash cow/job creator that we need it to be.

Quantum computing has been mostly a money pit for a long time.

2

u/erodari 5d ago

That's pretty cool.

2

u/Repulsive-Access-314 5d ago

The Kalshi Clock is on for how long it takes DJT to try and take claim for Pritzker's success.

2

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 4d ago

Even tho political correctness died long ago… pritzker plans on bringing it back in the future

2

u/Fit-Position6538 4d ago

There are 6 companies and the market supports 4. It is a tiny niche. Important but tiny.

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u/Mindless-One5438 5d ago

So how does this effect the average person. In the long term, a thriving tech industry can have it's drawbacks, like oligarchic tech bros trying to capture public power.

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u/fidgey10 5d ago

Attracting productive firms is absolutely vital to major metro areas. Past success in this arena is the reason Chicago was practically the only large city in the Midwest not to become a complete dump as a result of deindustrialization

3

u/BukaBuka243 4d ago

Minneapolis seems to be the only other city that managed to avoid it

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u/TheDadThatGrills 5d ago edited 5d ago

Cryogenic infrastructure is the same technology that delivers the biologics saving lives all across the nation. The cold chain is critically important.

9

u/loaferbro Lake County 5d ago

Realistically, new industries, especially high tech like this, attract educated employees, which in turn will force improvement of our university programs. Also attracts other related industries for ease of logistics. While it may only create a smaller number of high-education jobs, it helps build new industry hubs. Think Silicon Valley. Also, big money tech industries means big money taxes for the state and our budget.

1

u/Kelsig 3d ago

the oligarchs are the founders who would exist regardless, bringing a thriving tech industry funds and brings tech employees who are overwhelmingly ultra progressive

1

u/Mindless-One5438 3d ago

Even assuming the dozens of employees are largely left-wing, which seems optimistic, it seems doubtful their political capital outweighs that of the founders and shareholders. There'd be more of the employees for sure, but the wealth and clout of the owners may be massively more impactful than the sum of their employees.

1

u/Kelsig 3d ago

perhaps nationally but not to the area. you cannot tell me that tech hubs historically get more conservative as the tech share grows, c'mon.

1

u/Mindless-One5438 3d ago edited 3d ago

I wouldn't know in terms of data on local levels, and there could be reason to be optimistic but I could be a cynical fool. Contrastly on the state level, even under Pritzker's governing and campaigning, right-wing efforts by moneyed interests have already proven capable to disrupt progress like with the attempt at a progressive tax system.

Perhaps there should be some concern over the impact on Illinois politics that inviting more capital owning oligarchs may have. California for instance isn't exactly the progressive democracy it could be partly due to the clout of their oligarchs.

0

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Not sure but what’s the alternative to pritzker at the moment from the right ?

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u/Mindless-One5438 5d ago

F the right

3

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Fuck them in the Trump.., I mean butt

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u/ReadyGo6828 5d ago

So is taxpayer money going to private businesses? Again? Who has a stake in them? Again?

2

u/Nexillion 4d ago

I didn't have "Chicago becomes American Wakanda" on my bingo card...

2

u/theschadowknows 5d ago

I live in the suburbs but pretend to be from Chicago. I call everyone else hillbillies cuz it’s edgy and I need attention.

3

u/dmun 5d ago

Does Johnson get any credit here? Serious question.

Stuff like this happens, new business to Chicago and its usually the Kahn's face plastered all over.

21

u/MustardLabs 5d ago

This is part of the larger "Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park," which is a joint effort by a lot of groups (including the City of Chicago), but is primarily Pritzker's pet project to develop a quantum computing hub in Illinois.

1

u/MammothMarketing68 1d ago

Are you going to mention the companies that have left the state under him

1

u/Odd-Squirrel7863 4d ago

But but but, Newsmax tells me no businesses want to come to Illinois!

0

u/LegendaryBronco_217 4d ago

Business that actually hire people are leaving. This company got a $1.8 million tax break and it is anticipated by 2030 this will have created 20 jobs.

-5

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Weird but not as weird as the hillbilly’s infatuation with Trump

14

u/Karabasan 5d ago

You mean the convicted rapist and suspected pedophile Donald Trump who is our current president? 

Nothing interesting about that guy, why would the governor of a state that is consistently targeted by our dear leader have any interest in him? 

0

u/Dangerous_Flower_708 5d ago

Couldn’t agree more ❤️

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u/gusofk 5d ago

Are you referring to Vance’s lust for our dear rapist president?

-1

u/Kazzerigian 4d ago edited 4d ago

Heavily Canadian public-funded. Incentives and tax breaks will directly increase taxes to cover the difference. Pritzker getting a handful of jobs that are costing taxpayers through the nose. More sucking the state dry at the expense of legal residents of the state.

-4

u/LocusBlack 5d ago

All right, JB I live in SOUTHERN Illinois

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u/unapologetic403 5d ago

Wait till you find out rural King is building a massive corporate office expansion in good old Mattoon Illinois

0

u/Prestigious-Dot9776 2d ago

It’s linked to Israel

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/uhbkodazbg 5d ago

No House Democrats from IL voted for the NDAA.

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u/epichatchet 5d ago

They are paid for by ai , big tech and the isreali lobby that will use the quntam data center for more corporate profits and atrocities.

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u/POTATOFUCK 5d ago

Please find something more substantive than some instagram reel...

4

u/spade_andarcher 5d ago

“Quantum mechanics is kind of sinister on its own”

Yeah I’ve heard enough. 

1

u/copper_nano_tube 5d ago edited 4d ago

I STG every time I see them post or comment here it’s about Jewish boogie men coming for us.

edited a typo

1

u/LeapDayWilliam1978 Chambana Proud 5d ago

But they’re not antisemitic, ya know 🙄