Chip giant Nvidia will open a quantum computing research lab in Boston, where it plans to collaborate with scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, chief executive Jensen Huang said on Thursday.
Mr Huang made the announcement at Nvidia’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, where Nvidia held a day of events focused on quantum computing.
Nvidia added the program after Mr Huang in January said useful quantum computers are 20 years away, comments he sought to walk back on Thursday while joined onstage by executives from quantum computing firms.
“This is the first event in history where a company CEO invites all of the guests to explain why he was wrong,” Mr Huang said.
The Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Centre, which Nvidia is calling NVAQC for short, will work with quantum firms including Quantinuum, Quantum Machines and QuEra Computing. Nvidia said the centre will begin operating later this year.
Mr Huang discussed the state of the industry with executives from more than a dozen firms, some of which are trying to make money off quantum technology before the computers can outpace existing ones.
Infleqtion chief executive Matt Kinsella said the company can already provide better computing clocks that help synchronise multiple classical computing chips.
“We’re following a tried and true monetisation and market development strategy of monetising those areas where we actually have true quantum advantage today,” Mr Kinsella said.
The quantum executives said that even when their machines outpace Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) at certain tasks such as understanding how atoms interact with one another, quantum machines will not replace traditional computers.
“We use your GPUs to design our chips,” said IonQ chief executive Peter Chapman. “It’s going to be a classical system sitting next to a quantum computer, going back and forth…I wouldn’t short any Nvidia stock at the end of this.”
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported this week that Nvidia plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in US-made chips and electronics over the next four years, quoting Mr Huang.
The company expects to spend around half-a-trillion dollars on electronics during the four-year period, according to the report.
“I think we can easily see ourselves manufacturing several hundred billion of it here in the US,” Mr Huang told FT, adding that the Trump administration could help accelerate the expansion of the US AI industry.
Mr Huang has been working to allay investor concerns over demand for Nvidia’s expensive AI chips, which have made the company one of the world’s most valuable, following China’s DeepSeek launching a competitive chatbot with allegedly fewer AI chips.
Nvidia declined to comment on the FT report.
Mr Huang said Nvidia can now manufacture its latest systems in the United States through suppliers such as Taiwanese chipmaking giants TSMC and Foxconn, while also noting a growing competitive threat from Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, according to the report.
– Reuters
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