At GTC 2025 in San Jose, Calif. today (Mar. 20), Nvidia hosted its first ever Quantum Day, an event to explore how quantum technology could impact industries. It featured a panel discussion led by CEO Jensen Huang, alongside executives from leading quantum computing companies like Atom Computing, D-Wave, Infleqtion, QuEra, IonQ, Pasqal and Quantinuum. Huang took the stage to clarify his statement in January that practical quantum computers were still 15 to 30 years away—which caused the stock prices of several quantum computing companies to plummet.
“I said it will take years to achieve was always because of the sheer complexity of the technology. When stocks went down, I didn’t even realize these companies were public,” said Jensen. “Today, I am here to invite every quantum company CEO to prove me wrong. This panel is a therapy session for me,” he added jokingly.
But more importantly, Huang announced that Nvidia is investing in a new Boston-based research facility to accelerate quantum computing innovations. The Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Center (NVAQC) will focus on integrating A.I. supercomputing with quantum systems, particularly emphasizing quantum error correction—a critical hurdle in making quantum computing practical. The new center will collaborate with Harvard’s Quantum Initiative and MIT’s Engineering Quantum Systems group and quantum companies including Quantinuum, Quantum Machines and QuEra Computing.
Huang first welcomed Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, with a smile and a handshake. During the panel discussion, Baratz pointed to scientific applications where quantum computing is already playing a vital role. “There are problems in the world today that classical computing, or even A.I. alone, can’t solve,” said Baratz. “Think about accurate weather forecasting or drug discovery. Quantum computing can also help A.I. models become more power-efficient.”
The panelists largely agreed that quantum technology has made major progress in recent months—but full-scale practicality is still in development. “We’ve achieved 99.5 percent accuracy in qubit fidelity,” said Subodh Kulkarni, CEO of Rigetti Computing. “But yes, [quantum computers] haven’t reached full practicality yet.” Qubits are fundamental units of data in quantum computers, that can exist in multiple states at once, enabling computers to process complex calculations more efficiently. For quantum computing to become truly practical and surpass the capabilities of classical computers or A.I., qubits must be scaled into the thousands, said Ben Bloom, CEO of Atom Computing.
Meanwhile, Loïc Henriet, CEO of Pasqal, a Paris-based startup specializing in neutral atoms quantum computing, said his company is already set to deliver four to six fully functional quantum machines over the next few months to the French government and other clients.
Unlike Microsoft and Google, which are actively developing quantum hardware, Nvidia has so far focused on software solutions. However, the chipmaker’s increasing involvement in quantum suggests it now sees the technology as a complement, not a competitor, to A.I. and classical computers. “Quantum computing will augment A.I. supercomputers to tackle some of the world’s most important problems, from drug discovery to materials development,” Huang said in a statement earlier this week.
Huang closed the session with a challenge to the industry: quantum computing must prove its real-world value. He also urged realism in the industry’s expectations. “The quantum industry has to find markets where this technology delivers real impact,” he said. “We need to lower our expectations for the present and focus on how to build these systems for the greater good. It seems like next year we’re going to have some quantum demos at GTC.”
