The Long & Winding Road to Quantum Computing ROI

(NextPlatform) The business model for quantum computing has been nebulous with the sizeable R&D investments, and the time to early production sometime in the next decade (if not longer). Author Nicole Hemsoth provides insights from startups such as D-Wave and major corporations like IBM, Intel & Google
The larger corporations have softer cushions if the risk bubble pops before commercialization. Hemsoth summarizes in detail her conversations with Bob Sutor, a 36-year IBM veteran and current VP of the company’s quantum-focused Q Strategy and Ecosystem. Sutor understands the nature of ROI in the quantum business for IRM Research–an organization within the more risk-averse larger company that is used to making long bets on new tech. “There is no return on investment in this for at least three to five years,” Sutor says.
Sutor shared IBM has a hundred thousand users for the free 5 and 16 qubit Q Experience machines with the Q Network growing to household names and institutions. “We have our own fabs, our own small clean room to build machines, mask designers, theoretical physicists—and we have expansion plans to keep growing.