Amazon Web Services (AWS) is planning to establish a quantum computing research and development center in Northern Pasadena, California.

The company confirmed plans for the site on March 6, sharing a statement that the facility will be a “research-and-development facility that expands our quantum computing work in Pasadena” after local residents raised concerns about the possibility that it could be a cloud and AI data center, as reported by Pasadena Star-News.

The facility in question is located at 2964 Bradley Street in Pasadena, previously home to Internet service provider Earthlink. Spanning 168,000 sq ft (15,600 sqm), the facility is within the city’s technology and life science corridor, and was constructed in 1981, later renovated in 2018.

Amazon purchased the property in December 2025 for around $78 million – more than double its previous sale price in 2021. Apparel retailer Max Studios occupies roughly half the building through 2027, with French aerospace firm Thales the most recent additional occupant.

The company did not state its intended use for the site at the time, but many speculated at the time that it could be a part of AWS’ massive data center build-out strategy.

Early last week, a public commenter during a city council meeting questioned whether the site would become a data center, to which Pasadena Water and Power general manager David Reyes said: “No application has been submitted, and we have not reviewed any plans; we don’t know what’s being proposed there. Until they come in and submit something, it’s hard for us to comment specifically on what some company may or may not do.”

Details about AWS’ plans for the site, beyond it being a hub for quantum computing, remain sparse, with a company spokesperson stating: “We’re in early planning stages and committed to working with city officials and the community throughout the permitting and development process.”

AWS has an existing quantum foothold in Pasadena, having launched a quantum computing center with Caltech in 2021. That facility spans around 21,000 sq ft (1,950 sqm), and is located within the Caltech campus.

At the time, AWS said the site would be used for the development of a fault-tolerant quantum computer, as well as for the making and testing of new quantum processors, control processes, and working on the supporting technology, such as cryogenic cooling systems needed by larger quantum systems.

The new location is not associated with Caltech.

Caltech – and by extension Pasadena – have long been associated with quantum computing, with Nobel prize winner Richard Feynman, who came up with the idea 40 years ago, having spent his later career at the university.

AWS offers access to cloud-based quantum computing technologies via its Amazon Braket service.

Braket launched in the US in 2020, and was initially available from AWS’ Virginia, California, and Oregon regions. The quantum systems are not housed in AWS data centers; instead, they are hosted by their respective providers and connect to AWS’ cloud via APIs. Braket came to the UK via its Eu-west-2 region in London in 2022 with access to a system from Oxford Quantum Circuits (no longer listed on Braket), and launched in mainland Europe last year with hardware from IQM.

Quantum computers available on Braket include those by AQT, IonQ, IQM, Rigetti, and QuEra.