Insider Brief
- NVIDIA’s Quantum Day at GTC 2025 is bringing together industry leaders to discuss the technology’s current capabilities and future potential.
- CEO Jensen Huang’s earlier skepticism about quantum computing’s timeline caused stock declines for several quantum companies, prompting NVIDIA to engage more directly with the quantum industry, analysts suggest.
- The event will feature discussions on quantum computing’s role in AI, commercialization challenges, and potential breakthroughs, with executives from leading quantum firms participating.
- Image: Google Quantum AI
NVIDIA’s inaugural Quantum Day at GTC 2025 — scheduled for March 20 — is closing in and anticipation is growing for the event, which will bring together industry leaders and researchers to discuss quantum computing’s present advances and future potential.
Initially, some in the quantum industry — and perhaps in the larger tech industry — viewed NVIDIA’s decision to host its first Quantum Day as more of an apology and slightly an apology. However, the event is now seen as more than a simple industry gathering and more than a gesture to the quantum computing community — it’s a statement, according to Investor’s Business Daily, who asked analysts and key figures to break down the events that led to the Quantum Day announcement.
After CEO Jensen Huang’s remarks — that quantum computing would not be “very useful” for 15 to 30 years — in January sent quantum computing stocks plummeting, the tech giant is now bringing industry leaders together to discuss the technology’s future. The move suggests NVIDIA is recalibrating its stance and recognizing quantum computing’s potential sooner rather than later, according to IBD.
“If NVIDIA really thought that quantum was 15 to 30 years out, would they have an event today? Probably not,” Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson and head of the firm’s technology research, told IBD.
The GTC event in Silicon Valley — a highlight on the tech conference calendar — will feature quantum executives, including D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz, who was personally invited by Huang shortly after the controversy erupted.
The Fallout From Huang’s Comments
Huang’s comments at CES had an immediate impact. Investors panicked, causing shares of Rigetti Computing, IonQ, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc. to drop sharply.
Luria, who had just given a quantum company a buy rating, knew the quote would have impact.
“When I heard that, I rolled my eyes a little bit,” Luria told IBD. “But I realized that that was going to have an impact.”
Baratz was among the most vocal in pushing back.
“The quantum computing industry is still young, and the investor market is still maturing,” Baratz said, according to IBD. “Everybody’s looking for any information that they can use to make decisions. Sometimes misinformation can get out there and drive decisions.”
Quantum computing companies argue that real-world applications already exist, with businesses exploring the technology for supply chain optimization, drug discovery and financial modeling. Others, including veteran Silicon Valley investors, argue that large-scale commercial viability is still years away.
A steady stream of predictions have caused waves of predictions about quantum from CEOs and former CEOs to scientists and physicists. Those predictions — not coincidentally — have caused turbulence in the burgeoning quantum stock market.
“And the whole thing doubled again, which is to say our expectations went from five years to 15 years to 10 years back to five years over a period of two weeks,” Luria told IBD. “That’s how you can explain the stock moves: When discounting cash flows, it matters a lot if all my cash flows are five years out or 15 years out.”
Discounted cash flow (DCF) is a financial valuation method that estimates the present value of an investment by projecting future cash flows and adjusting them for risk and time value using a discount rate. DCF analysis shows that even slight delays in expected cash flow timelines can cause drastic valuation swings for quantum companies compared to mature firms, The Quantum Insider reported at the time.
NVIDIA’s Position and the AI Factor
The debate over quantum computing is particularly relevant for NVIDIA, whose dominance in artificial intelligence chips is undisputed. Quantum computing could eventually pose a challenge to NVIDIA’s core business by offering an alternative way to process complex computations more efficiently than GPUs.
“Quantum computing isn’t what’s next to AI,” Luria said. “There are two parallel paths that are intersecting. Quantum will at some point be helpful toward creating really sophisticated AI. A quantum computer may replace the data center GPUs – but it’s not replacing AI.”
Baratz agrees that quantum’s impact on AI could arrive sooner than expected. D-Wave is already collaborating with Japan Tobacco’s pharmaceutical division on AI-powered drug discovery, while IonQ is working with AstraZeneca on similar initiatives.
Quantum Computing’s Challenges
While the technology holds promise, major hurdles remain, IBD reports. Quantum computers rely on subatomic particles to perform calculations that classical computers struggle with. However, they require highly specialized conditions — such as extreme cold — and remain expensive to build and maintain.
“D.A. Davidson analyst Alex Platt said quantum computing comes with “an expensive price tag,” estimating costs of a single system in the tens of millions.
Baratz estimated that a D-Wave quantum computer costs under $2 million to build and install.
These challenges, combined with uncertainty over when quantum systems will surpass classical computers in practical applications, fuel skepticism. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently added to doubts, stating on an interview for the Joe Rogan Show podcast that quantum computing is “still quite a ways off.”
Luria dismissed the remark, telling IBD that Zuckerberg admitted he was not an expert. “He said, ‘Look, I’m not really an expert, but it seems like it’s decades away.’ He is not an expert—but he’s Mark Zuckerberg.”
Rebuilding Confidence in Quantum Computing
Following the backlash and stock drops, NVIDIA’s announcement of Quantum Day signals an effort to reshape the conversation. The company described quantum computing as “one of the most exciting areas in computer science, promising progress in accelerated computing beyond what’s considered possible today.”
Baratz, who will be speaking at the event, confirmed that Huang personally reached out to invite him. “That’s between me and him,” he said when asked about their exchange.
Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni sees the event as an opportunity for constructive discussion.
“This was a nice way to say, ‘Let’s have a good dialogue,’” he told IBD. “These are all uncertain things.”
Quantum’s ‘ChatGPT Moment’?
For now, NVIDIA’s primary focus remains AI, with quantum computing still an emerging sector. Some analysts compare quantum’s development timeline to AI’s evolution, arguing that it may take a major breakthrough — akin to the release of ChatGPT in 2022 — to shift perceptions.
“If that was to happen, two, three, five years down the road, that would be the equivalent of a ChatGPT moment,” Luria told IBD, pointing to quantum-assisted drug discovery as a potential turning point.
Even critics acknowledge quantum’s long-term potential.
“Nobody is shipping quantum computers in volume, on any kind of scale in the next five to seven years,” said Rob Siegel, a Stanford lecturer and investor, as reported by IBD. “But that doesn’t mean the technology isn’t important.”
What Comes Next?
The global quantum computing market could add a total of more than $1 trillion to the global economy between 2025 and 2035, according to a report from The Quantum Insider. Vendors are expected to capture $50 billion of revenue over this period, the report added.
However, investor confidence in the sector remains volatile, with shifting perceptions about when real-world applications will take off.
For industry leaders, NVIDIA’s Quantum Day represents a crucial moment to reset expectations and bring clarity to the conversation. The event will also include a chat between Huang and executives from industry leaders, including: Alice & Bob, Atom Computing, D-Wave, Infleqtion, IonQ, Pasqal, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum, Quantum Circuits, QuEra Computing, Rigetti and SEEQC.
Kulkarni believes the event’s significance extends beyond NVIDIA.
“Someone like him taking personal interest in hosting the event, I think carries a lot of credibility,” Kulkarni said. “I wish we didn’t go through such movements of the stock prices. But that’s our life, I suppose.”
You can register for GTC here.
