D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) stock plunged 15.94% on Sunday, following comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang that suggested practical applications of quantum computing are still a long way off.

During a question-and-answer session at Nvidia's Consumer Electronics Show Financial Analyst event, Huang stated, "If you kind of said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that would probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it's probably on the late side. If you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it."

Huang's remarks sent shockwaves through the quantum computing industry, with stocks like D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) plummeting. While Huang's comments were not new, as he had previously made similar statements in March 2023, investors appeared to have overreacted to his reiteration of the cautious timeline for practical quantum computing applications.

According to the news article, Huang's perspective risks overlooking the incremental yet impactful progress happening in quantum computing right now. Companies like IonQ and D-Wave Quantum have already made tangible advancements, with IonQ projecting revenue could approach $1 billion by 2030, and D-Wave Quantum forecasting fiscal year 2024 bookings will likely top $23 million.

The article suggests that Huang's comments may have been self-serving, as quantum computing poses an existential threat to Nvidia's GPU data center business. Analysts argue that once quantum computing becomes powerful enough, it could replace some uses of GPU data centers with a much smaller footprint and faster computation.