Quantum computing stocks snapped a nearly year-long rally last week after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the technology would likely be in practical use for two decades. But Nvidia is already heavily investing in quantum technology and hiring.
Quantum computing stocks snapped a nearly year-long rally last week after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the technology would likely be in practical use for two decades. But Nvidia is already heavily investing in quantum technology and hiring.
The long wait for «very useful quantum computers» predicted by Huang, «pours cold water on a sector» that is already spending millions on technology that can only perform niche calculations, Reuters reports
«If you said 15 years… that would probably be too early. If you said 30, that would probably be too late. But if you said 20, I think a lot of us would believe it,» he said Tuesday.
Shares of companies such as Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, Quantum Computing and IonQ fell by more than 40% after the announcement. In total, they lost more than $8 billion in market value.
«A 15-20-year timeframe seems very realistic. That’s about how long it took Nvidia to develop accelerated computing,» said Ivanna Delevska, chief investment officer at Spear Invest, which holds shares of Rigetti and IonQ in an actively managed ETF.
Shares of quantum computing companies have at least tripled in the past year, outpacing Nvidia’s more than double, thanks to Google’s high-profile breakthrough in the technology in December, when it developed a new quantum chip called Willow that can complete a computational task in less than five minutes.
Despite Huang’s prediction, Nvidia appears to be already investing heavily in quantum technology and laying the groundwork for a hybrid quantum-classical future. The company currently has about 10 jobs and internships directly related to quantum technology. Most of the openings are concentrated in Nvidia’s quantum computing division, which it describes as «a small, strong, and visible group both inside and outside of Nvidia.»
Nvidia’s job postings also show that the company is linking its strengths in machine learning and artificial intelligence to the emerging quantum industry. «We are looking for experts in quantum error correction (QEC) and fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) with a desire to scale current state-of-the-art methods with AI and ML,» the company notes.
Huang outlined Nvidia’s vision for the role of quantum computing alongside classical computing during his keynote at GTC 2024. He described quantum computing as a «quantum accelerator,» emphasizing the need for classical computing infrastructure to drive quantum systems.
«You can’t just program a quantum computer by itself. You require classical computing alongside it,» said the Nvidia chief. His company sees quantum processors integrated with classical supercomputers as tools to solve complex problems that neither can handle alone.
This symbiosis may explain why Nvidia is investing in quantum technology now, rather than 20 years from now—investing today to gain a foothold in the ecosystem and build the infrastructure for future quantum computing adoption.
dev.ua has collected some thoughts from IT professionals and an economist about what to expect from Google’s new mega-powerful quantum chip Willow.
