Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, sporting a Tom Ford shiny black leather jacket, rattled the financial markets and tech commentators last week with his claim that very useful quantum computers are 15 to 30 years away. Speaking at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Huang praised the potential of quantum computing but emphasised the significant challenges in scaling the technology to practical, fault-tolerant systems.

While many in the quantum community agree with Huang’s realism, others believe his timeline overlooks the substantial advancements already being made in the field. Industry leaders, academics and analysts have provided valuable context to Huang’s remarks, highlighting both the long-term challenges and the near-term opportunities.