Quantum computing stocks plunged on Tuesday following comments from Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) CEO Jensen Huang who suggested the technology is still decades away.
During an investor conference, Huang suggested that quantum computing may still be 15 to 30 years away from being “very useful”, dampening investor enthusiasm across the sector.
"If you kind of said 15 years... that'd probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it's probably on the late side. But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it," Huang said.
He added that quantum computing is currently limited to niche applications and cannot solve every problem. Huang stated that the technology is particularly suited for small data problems due to its reliance on microwave communication, which is not efficient for handling large datasets.
Following the Nvidia CEO’s comments, shares of Quantum computing firms plunged. At midday, Quantum Computing Inc. (OTCQB:QUBT) fell 48.7% to $9 while Rigetti Computing fell 47.7% to $9.60. D-Wave Quantum was down 45.5% to $5 and IonQ fell 43.6% to $28.
Combined, these four companies were on track to lose approximately $6 billion during Tuesday’s trading session.