In 2025, the quantum computing space essentially broke out of obscurity, with AI’s unrelenting demand spilling into virtually every compute bottleneck.
For perspective, the “quantum cohort,” as I like to call it, comprised of IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc., currently commands a combined market cap exceeding $50 billion.
The stock returns over the past year in these quantum bellwethers have been staggering. IonQ has surged over 92%, while Rigetti and D-Wave have soared 274% and 400%, respectively.
A huge part of the investor enthusiasm surrounding the stock is the deep link between AI and quantum. Hyperscaler AI capex remains massive, continuing to drive demand for specialized accelerators.
Also, consulting baselines suggest that AI and computing spending will remain elevated through 2026, with quantum revenues potentially transitioning to actual bookings. For context, McKinsey estimates the 2025 quantum industry sales to be around $1 billion, and the long-term total addressable market may reach an eye-popping $198 billion by 2040.
Amid the frenzy, IonQ’s CEO is making waves with a statement that effectively challenges Nvidia’s AI dominance. His bold remark reframes the conversation about what powers the next computing revolution.
IonQ CEO Niccolò De Masi said that quantum computing isn’t just the next big leap; it’s the next replacement cycle.
In an interview from the New York Stock Exchange, De Masi talked up the immense potential of quantum processors, or QPUs, which could potentially take the place of the GPUs currently powering today’s AI boom.
More Nvidia:
“Quantum computing is the next leg of the computing revolution,” he said. “Just as GPUs overtook CPUs, QPUs will ultimately start to replace GPUs.”
That seems like a radical notion in a market that’s built around Nvidia’s $4 trillion GPU empire. However, De Masi views it as more of a natural evolution, with robust GPUs and QPUs working in tandem, but with quantum systems likely to take the lead in the future as they become more powerful, compact, and energy-efficient.
Related: Former Intel CEO drops curt 2-word verdict on AI
IonQ’s latest hardware, Tempo, might back up the ambition.
De Masi claims it delivers a 36-quadrillion-times larger compute space than IBM’s comparable machine, blowing past the power of nearly a billion GPUs. Additionally, in a specific benchmark involving AstraZeneca, AWS, and Nvidia, IonQ’s system was able to compress a month’s worth of classical computing into a single day.
