- Nvidia’s GTC featured its first-ever Quantum Day, highlighting the next-gen field.
- Jensen Huang said the event was an apology for his previous comments dismissing the tech.
- Some panelists weren’t convinced of his contrition — and the impact on the market was already done.
During Thursday’s Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, CEO Jensen Huang described the company’s first-ever Quantum Day as an apology for comments he made in January that sent quantum stocks tumbling. Still, not all panel attendees were convinced of his contrition or belief in quantum technology — and the damage to their stocks was already done.
“You know, this is the first event in history where a company CEO invites all of the guests to explain why he was wrong,” Huang said at the opening of the “Quantum Computing: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed” panel.
In January, the Nvidia CEO suggested the industry is 20 years away from quantum computing being “very useful.” While the remarks echoed the sentiments of many quantum skeptics, they sent stocks in the sector tumbling over 60% when uttered by the tech titan’s leader.
The GTC quantum panels featured three conversations between executives from up-and-coming quantum computing companies, including Quantinuum, IonQ, and SEEQC, and quantum-focused researchers from established tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.
Business Insider spoke with six executives who were panelists at the Quantum Day roundtable following the event.
Some of the featured panelists were excited that Nvidia’s first-ever Quantum Day raised the profile of the burgeoning technology to a global audience. “It’s good for Quantum to get this kind of exposure to have so many people interested,” said Pasqual CEO Loïc Henriet.
But others weren’t convinced that Huang was sufficiently repentant for his declarations — or even that he took the growing field seriously.
“It felt, at least in our session, more like Jensen asked a question, and we gave an answer versus a discussion amongst the panelists. But I think that’s just probably the way he wants it because he’s the star of the show,” Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, told Business Insider. “And I think that the messaging wasn’t really Jensen saying he was wrong, but my sense was he still is not convinced of the timeline and utility of quantum computing.”
Momentum in the quantum field
D-Wave, a publicly traded company, recently announced it had achieved the elusive industry benchmark of “quantum supremacy” when simulating calculations related to magnetic materials discovery. At GTC, the company announced the publication of its latest paper, which introduced a new quantum blockchain architecture for cryptocurrencies, supply chain management, and decentralized finance.
Microsoft, AWS, and Google have also announced advancements in their quantum research in recent months. While the industry has not yet achieved its full potential of helping to discover new drugs, develop new chemical compounds, or break encryption methods, its momentum is palpable.
During the GTC panel, conversations focused less on the industry’s recent advancements and future quantum computing applications and more on outlining each company’s technical approach to developing the next-generation technology and discussing whether the field should be renamed something like “quantum processing” to improve consumer understanding.
Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni told Business Insider the panel was a fantastic opportunity for quantum computing companies to showcase their work to an eager audience of developers. However, he suggested it could have been better organized if companies like his, which are still largely in the research and development phase, and other businesses like D-Wave’s, which have more commercial applications, had separate panels to discuss their work.
Baratz agreed and said that if his company is invited back, he’d want more information about how the conversation would be organized and the goals for participating. He added that it’s hard to say no when Huang comes calling.
“When Nvidia creates something like this, and all the quantum companies are there, it’s hard to be absent,” Baratz said.
Quantum stocks stay slumped
Ahead of the GTC panel, Huang suggested he had no idea his earlier remarks would hurt the stocks of quantum computing companies, saying, “I didn’t know they were public.”
“How could a quantum computer company be public?” Huang joked.
Two CEOs of quantum computing companies featured on the panel told Business Insider they received calls from Huang shortly after his January remarks apologizing for the massive losses.
Others acknowledged Huang’s intent to publicly apologize for his market-moving remarks by organizing the day of quantum-centered talks, panels, and event sessions at GTC.
“He self-admitted this event was a little bit of a mea culpa, and I believe him,” Kulkarni said. “I think when he made his initial statements, he honestly didn’t believe that he would cause serious damage to the reputations of so many quantum computing companies, so this was a little bit of mea culpa without a doubt.”
Quantum stocks nudged upward after D-Wave’s mid-March announcement but still haven’t recovered from the hit they took after Huang’s January comments.
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment on the panelists’ criticisms of and concerns about the GTC Quantum Day.
Read the full article here
