During the launch of Nvidia’s Gefion supercomputer in Denmark on October 23, 2024, CEO Jensen Huang stated that practical quantum computers are still many years away. He suggested that a timeline of 15 to 30 years for achieving “very useful” quantum computers is plausible, emphasizing that 20 years is a reasonable average that many in the industry would agree on. Huang also expressed confidence that Nvidia would play a crucial role in advancing quantum computing capabilities.
Following Huang’s comments, stocks related to quantum computing saw a significant decline, with Rigetti Computing dropping 25% and IonQ falling over 13%. D-Wave Quantum and Quantum Computing also experienced considerable losses. The quantum computing sector had previously seen a surge in interest and stock prices due to Google’s announcement of the Willow chip, which reportedly improved error reduction compared to its predecessor.
While proponents of quantum technology believe it could revolutionize computing by handling tasks beyond the capability of classical systems, skeptics warn that it may still be premature to identify clear winners in the sector or validate its practical applications.
