It was when Axel Wenner-Gren invested in and developed his monorail system Alweg that he became interested in computers. Always on the lookout for the next technological boom, Wenner-Gren understood the future potential and quickly purchased a suitable computer factory in California. The company was named Alwac (as he often named companies with letter combinations from Axel Wenner-Gren's own name). In February 1957, it was reported in the newspapers that Alwac would begin building its smaller "data brains" in Norrköping.
Alwac, which eventually had subsidiaries in Canada and England, succeeded in developing computers that beat well-known chess masters, but the machines were hard to sell and extremely expensive. The first one was donated in 1954 to the US Air Force, and later, Finland and Sweden also received computers financed by Wenner-Gren himself through his holding company Fulcrum. As part of the sale of Electrolux shares, it was agreed that Stockholms Enskilda Bank would also subscribe to an Alwac machine. Unfortunately, it was never delivered.
