IonQ and other quantum-computing stocks slid after Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang played down the likely utility of the technology in the near- or medium-term.
“If you kind of said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that’d probably be on the early side. If you said 30 is probably on the late side,” Huang told analysts late Tuesday.
Quantum-computing shares, which have surged since Alphabet announced a technological breakthrough last month, tumbled in premarket trading. Shares of IonQ (IONQ), Quantum Computing (QUBT), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) all fell 14% or more.
Huang said that quantum computing was good at small data problems, such as cryptography, rather than large data problems.