Shares in several quantum computing companies plummeted on Wednesday after Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, said useful quantum computers were decades away. This news comes amid a recent surge in quantum computing stocks, with some names rising over 20 times their value in the past year.
Huang’s comments, made during a Q&A session with Wall Street analysts, set a more realistic timeline for the development of practical quantum computers. He stated that a timeframe of 15 years might be too optimistic and 30 years too pessimistic, but 20 years could be achievable.
Nvidia’s dominance in AI computing gives Huang’s predictions significant weight, and his comments tend to move stocks. As a result, shares in Rigetti Computing dropped 46% in early trading on Wednesday, followed by a decline of 45% for Quantum Computing Inc. and over 42% for IonQ. The combined losses exceeded $4 billion in market capitalization.
Quantum computing is an emerging field that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to perform tasks beyond traditional computing capabilities. While traditional binary computers use electrical signals that can be either 0 or 1, quantum computers utilize subatomic particles that can exist simultaneously, offering exponential power.
Google’s recent advancements in quantum computing have shown promise, with its new chip capable of performing computations in five minutes that would take today’s supercomputers 10 septillion years. However, the company acknowledges that this achievement is still a “convincing prototype” and not yet scalable.
The challenge of correcting errors remains a significant hurdle for quantum computers, with many experts considering it a major obstacle to building practical machines. Nvidia’s comments highlight the need for more realistic expectations in the development of quantum computing technology.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/08/quantum-computing-stock-nvidia-jensen-huang