Quantum computing industry is buzzing after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang made some bold predictions at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week.
On Monday, Huang appeared in a Wall Street analyst Q&A session after Nvidia's keynote at CES 2025.
He shared his vision for the future of quantum computing and stated that he believes mainstream quantum computing technology is probably 20 years away.
In Huang's view, a 15-year window for what he describes as “very useful quantum computers” is probably too soon, but a 30-year window is probably too late. His hypothesis is that a 20-year window for the technology makes the most sense, and he adds that he believes many technology leaders would agree.
However, not everyone agrees with Huang's predictions. The CEO of a prominent quantum computing company offered his own opinion, making clear that he sees a very different timeline for the evolution of the technology.
D-Wave Systems CEO challenges Huang's vision of his industry
Following Huang's comments, many quantum computing stocks that had previously performed well plummeted as speculation based on his predictions increased.
An industry leader whose company has helped usher in the new phase of quantum computing was quick to assert that Huang is “completely wrong” about the technology.
Related: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Strong Words About Quantum Computing Spark Backlash
Dr. Alan Baratz is President and CEO of D-Wave Systems, a position he has held since 2020.
Following Huang's comments, Baratz spoke with the street on why Huang gets the quantum computing timeline wrong. He also shared his opinion on what the future of quantum computing will look like.
Baratz's response to Huang is simple: D-Wave Systems already has commercial quantum computers that customers use to run their trading operations. today.
Baratz says there are many approaches to quantum computing and speculates that Huang is focusing on just one of them.
“I think the problem we have is that Jensen is only really familiar with one approach, and his comments, while perhaps on a longer timeline than others might say, are not totally incorrect for the approach he has in mind,” Baratz points out.
Unlike the approach Huang references, Baratz says D-Wave took a different route. As a result, companies are already using their company's quantum computing technology.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet”>
Jensen Huang has a misunderstanding about quantum. While he might be right about other quantum companies, he's dead wrong about D-Wave. There is more than one approach to building a quantum computer. D-Wave took a different approach, which has allowed us to be commercial today…
—Alan Baratz (@Alan_Baratz) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Baratz/status/1877098813673857341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 8, 2025
D-Wave Systems Approach to Quantum Computing
The approach Huang seems to be referring to requires error correction, described as “a set of techniques used to protect information stored in qubits from errors and decoherence caused by noise.”
Baratz notes that systems that rely on error correction may still be years away from widespread adoption, as Huang has suggested. However, Baratz also makes clear that D-Wave's quantum approach, called annealing, does not require error correction.
“When errors are introduced into our calculation, it doesn't destroy it,” Baratz explains. “We may not arrive at the optimal solution, but we will usually arrive at a good solution.”
The other quantum approach is known as “gating” and, as Baratz points out, requires error correction, since errors are much more frequent in those systems and destroy the computation as soon as they enter.
Baratz predicts that the industry has a long way to go before reaching full bug fixes. However, you see that Google (GOOGLE) Recent progress with its Willow quantum computing chip is a good step forward, describing it as “the first time anyone has demonstrated, on an interesting scale, the ability to correct a qubit.”
Quantum computing made easy
Anyone following these market developments should understand the technology Huang and Baratz are discussing.
Broadly speaking, quantum computing refers to a type of advanced computing that harnesses the power of quantum mechanics to perform tasks at an extremely fast pace.
While traditional computers typically only solve one problem at a time, quantum machines can handle multiple tasks at once using quantum bits (qubits) of information.
Related: Analysts Renew Price Targets for IonQ, Rigetti and D-Wave Quantum Stock Based on Quantum Computing Prospects
The current ai boom, from which companies such as Nvidia, which manufactures graphics processing units (GPUs), have significantly benefited, has led to a great need for advanced computing power to run large language models (LLMs). Some experts have suggested that quantum computing could provide the solution.
D-Wave Quantum technology Use Cases
To illustrate the business aspects of D-Wave's quantum computing technology, Baratz cited several use cases involving prominent companies spanning different industries.
Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo uses D-Wave technology to optimize the resources of its mobile towers. “With this approach, they can support up to 15% more smartphones per cell tower,” Baratz notes.
Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford Motors (F) and Turkish industrial conglomerate Koc Holdings, has used D-Wave quantum systems, reducing a calculation that previously took 30 minutes to mere seconds.
Another client is Canadian supermarket operator Pattison Food Group. It has achieved an 80% reduction in the time needed to schedule its workforce and optimize last-mile routes for e-commerce delivery.
D-Wave also has a relationship with Mastercard (MOTHER) . It is helping the leading credit card provider optimize its loyalty rewards programs to improve acceptance.
“These are all real commercial applications that have been created and are used today based on our quantum computers, and there are many more that are in the pipeline,” Baratz says.
The D-Wave CEO adds that almost all companies have optimization problems that need to be solved and that quantum computing technology could address.
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Other experts have expressed views similar to Baratz's, including IDC research director Heather West, PhD, who recently published a report indicating:
“The range of optimization problems that can be applied to the annealing quantum computer, including artificial intelligence and materials science problems, demonstrates a versatility once thought to be limited only to quantum-based systems. doors”.
The synergistic future of quantum computing and ai
Baratz agrees with West's optimism about the potential for quantum computing to positively impact ai.
In his view, there are potentially many cases where each can bring value to different parts of the problem, thus benefiting both markets.
An example is the use of ai to predict product demand and quantum computing to optimize the supply chain.
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“Beyond that,” he says, “we are also working on how quantum computing could be used to speed up and reduce the energy needed to do model training and inference, which is very important because, obviously, the consumption of energy is a big problem right now. in GPU and ai.”
If ai and quantum computing complement each other so well, why would someone like Huang express a perspective that generates negativity?
Veteran Wall Street trader Stephen Guilfoyle recently examined this topicraising the possibility that “Huang, which can barely keep up with ai-focused demand, simply doesn't need the next big thing to explode yet… and doesn't want these players to shop elsewhere.”
However, regardless of what Huang wants, Baratz's statements make clear that he sees quantum computing technology, especially at D-Wave Systems, making steady advances that disprove Huang's hypothesis.
“Today we have practical, large-scale quantum computers,” he says. “D-Wave systems are 5,000-qubit quantum computers, and that order of magnitude is larger than any other quantum computer available today.”
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