Martin Shkreli Questions Quantum Computing Advances and Market Valuations

Former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli has expressed skepticism regarding the latest advances in quantum computing, as well as the high stock valuations of certain companies in this sector. His comments particularly targeted IonQ Inc. (IONQ) and Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI) in a series of posts he made on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

What Happened: Shkreli stated that both IONQ and RGTI stocks are overpriced, suggesting that their true worth should be in the low single digits compared to their current prices of around $33 and $10, respectively. He believes that quantum computing has not yet reached commercial viability in any substantial way. Shkreli’s criticism came at a time when Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced a new quantum chip, the Majorana 1, that utilizes an innovative Topological Core architecture. This architecture is said to have the potential to scale up to one million qubits, providing more reliable quantum bits by using controlled Majorana particles.

Shkreli raised concerns about the competitive landscape, claiming that there was significant pressure to prevent Microsoft’s quantum research paper from being published. He cautioned against using the term 'breakthrough' lightly regarding technological advances, especially in the quantum space.

There was a fairly vicious battle to disqualify the Microsoft quantum paper from publication. The word 'breakthrough' should be used very carefully.

Despite Shkreli’s negative outlook, it is worth noting that both IONQ and RGTI have experienced substantial stock gains recently. Over the past year, IONQ shares have risen by 221%, while RGTI’s stock has skyrocketed by more than 572%. However, Shkreli pointed out that both companies face operational challenges, referencing a dashboard from Amazon Web Services Braket that showed several of their quantum processing units offline.

Just a reminder that $IONQ and $RGTI are both worth low single digits vs. their $33 and $10 prices today. Quantum computing is great, but it is not commercially viable in any serious way.

See Also: The discussion surrounding quantum computing's commercial viability is not confined to Shkreli's opinion. Notably, Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has indicated that practical applications of quantum technology could still be 15 to 20 years away. On the other hand, Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL / GOOG), remains more optimistic, claiming it could achieve practical applications within the next five years with its Willow quantum chip.

Microsoft's venture into quantum computing has received support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The tech giant has also partnered with Quantinuum and Atom Computing to integrate their quantum capabilities into the Azure cloud platform.

Shkreli, who gained notoriety as "Pharma Bro" and faced a securities fraud conviction in 2017, although banned from the pharmaceutical industry, has re-emerged as a vocal critic within the quantum computing domain.

shkreli, quantum, technology