Why Jensen Huang should be embarrassed that he didn’t know quantum computing companies were publicly traded
During Nvidia’s Quantum Day at GTC, CEO Jensen Huang admitted that he didn’t know quantum computing companies were publicly traded when he remarked in early January that it would likely be decades before the technology was “useful.”
Those remarks prompted very publicly traded quantum computing companies to lose billions in market value thereafter.
If I were one of the handful of executives from a publicly traded quantum computing company sitting there on Thursday, I’d be faking a smile through gritted teeth at hearing Huang’s story. Why?
They’re not only buyers of the chip designer’s high-powered products and software. In some cases, they’re also partners, as Nvidia has been supporting the development of these companies and their technology.
To take Huang at his own words, from those same early January remarks on the utility of quantum computing: “Just about every quantum computing company in the world is working with us now.”
Their executives have even been cited in press releases together!
From a joint press release from Rigetti Computing and Quantum Machines in December announcing how they were able to calibrate a quantum computer using the help of AI:
“AI is a critical tool for advancing quantum computing,” said Tim Costa, senior director of CAE, EDA, and Quantum at Nvidia. “This latest work shows how the scalable control of quantum hardware needed for useful applications hinges on advances in AI.”
And from an IonQ press release in November:
“Useful quantum applications will need to draw on both quantum hardware and AI supercomputing resources,” said Elica Kyoseva, director of Quantum Algorithm Engineering at Nvidia. “The CUDA-Q platform is allowing researchers and developers to explore these paradigms by accessing Nvidia accelerated computing alongside IonQ’s quantum processors.”
I get that Huang has had a lot of things on his mind (mainly the Blackwell ramp and the product road map to come), and that “useful” quantum computing is even further away in his mental timeline than the most advanced stuff Nvidia’s dreaming up right now, but still, yeesh.
Those remarks prompted very publicly traded quantum computing companies to lose billions in market value thereafter.
If I were one of the handful of executives from a publicly traded quantum computing company sitting there on Thursday, I’d be faking a smile through gritted teeth at hearing Huang’s story. Why?
They’re not only buyers of the chip designer’s high-powered products and software. In some cases, they’re also partners, as Nvidia has been supporting the development of these companies and their technology.
To take Huang at his own words, from those same early January remarks on the utility of quantum computing: “Just about every quantum computing company in the world is working with us now.”
Their executives have even been cited in press releases together!
From a joint press release from Rigetti Computing and Quantum Machines in December announcing how they were able to calibrate a quantum computer using the help of AI:
“AI is a critical tool for advancing quantum computing,” said Tim Costa, senior director of CAE, EDA, and Quantum at Nvidia. “This latest work shows how the scalable control of quantum hardware needed for useful applications hinges on advances in AI.”
And from an IonQ press release in November:
“Useful quantum applications will need to draw on both quantum hardware and AI supercomputing resources,” said Elica Kyoseva, director of Quantum Algorithm Engineering at Nvidia. “The CUDA-Q platform is allowing researchers and developers to explore these paradigms by accessing Nvidia accelerated computing alongside IonQ’s quantum processors.”
I get that Huang has had a lot of things on his mind (mainly the Blackwell ramp and the product road map to come), and that “useful” quantum computing is even further away in his mental timeline than the most advanced stuff Nvidia’s dreaming up right now, but still, yeesh.
