The wave of quantum computing following the AI ​​craze.

In the first quarter of 2026, the world witnessed a series of quantum computing companies listing on US stock exchanges, a clear signal that this technology is taking its first steps towards commercialization.

Part of the IBM System Two quantum computing system in New York - Photo: AFP

Notably, unlike typical technology screening phases, this time the investment isn't concentrated in a few "winners." The capital is spreading across the ecosystem, supporting even nascent quantum approaches that are still in the early stages of their development cycle.

Invading the stock market

On February 17th, Infleqtion, a US-based quantum computing research company, officially began trading on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition (SPAC) worth approximately $1.8 billion, raising over $540 million. A month later, Horizon Quantum (Singapore) listed on the Nasdaq through a similar SPAC, raising approximately $120 million.

By the end of March, it was Xanadu Quantum Technologies (Canada)'s turn – the company that announced a $3.6 billion SPAC deal in November 2025 – to officially begin trading on the Nasdaq.

According to Reuters, at the same time, IQM Quantum Computers (Finland) announced it had received €50 million ($57.6 million) in funding from funds managed by BlackRock, just ahead of its dual listing in the US and Helsinki with an initial valuation of $1.8 billion.

This wave of investment shows that even before the artificial intelligence (AI) craze has died down, investors are already looking to even more "future" technologies.

Velu Sinha, an expert at the US consulting firm Bain & Company, told CNBC on March 30: "The story has shifted from a scientific project to a commercial issue, and companies are taking advantage of this opportune moment."

According to Bain's estimates, the quantum computing market, when fully mature, could reach $100-$250 billion – large enough to convince "patient" investors to ignore short-term fluctuations.

The market frenzy is not without reason. Over the past 18 months, quantum computing technology has witnessed a series of technical breakthroughs, particularly in the area of ​​quantum error correction – a hurdle previously considered the most intractable in the industry.

In April 2024, Microsoft and Quantinuum (USA) announced the successful completion of over 14,000 consecutive, error-free experiments, creating four reliable logic qubits from just 30 physical qubits. This achievement was described by experts as "the most reliable logic qubits ever recorded." Ilyas Khan, Quantinuum's product manager, affirmed that this technique "has shortened the roadmap by at least two years."

In late 2024, Google's Willow chip became the first system to demonstrate the principle of "subthreshold error correction": the more physical qubits there are, the lower the error rate of logical qubits becomes, instead of increasing as before. By November 2025, IBM announced the Loon chip, claiming that this design had paved the way for quantum computers to be put into practice by 2029.

Potential from future technologies

These technological advancements are beginning to permeate practical applications. In September 2025, HSBC Bank announced the results of a trial using the IBM Heron quantum computer to predict the probability of order execution in European corporate bond trading. The results showed an improvement in accuracy of up to 34% compared to classical methods.

In the field of medicine, according to McKinsey's analysis, quantum computers can simulate molecular structures at a level that classical supercomputers can only approximate, promising to shorten the drug screening process from years to months.

Major pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Moderna have partnered with quantum companies like IBM or PsiQuantum to explore molecular simulation, chemical reactions, and drug development-related problems, including applications for Alzheimer's disease and mRNA.

Although still in the research phase, McKinsey believes these experimental steps are shaping the "starting point" of quantum medicine in the next decade.

However, quantum computing still has a long way to go. Sinha warns that the threshold for demonstrating the first "commercial quantum advantage" is around 100 logic qubits – a level the entire industry is expected to reach only in 2028-2029.

"To have a large-scale impact like discovering new drugs or optimizing global logistics, we need 1,000 to 10,000 logic qubits, which will most likely not be until the mid-2030s," Sinha pointed out.

The market reaction also shows that the industry's potential still needs to "prove itself." Most quantum company stocks experienced significant volatility after listing, with some experiencing double-digit declines just weeks after going public.

Marc Einstein, Director of Research at Counterpoint Research, believes that the prospect of every household owning a quantum computer on their desk "is probably still decades away." In that context, the Quantum-as-a-Service model could be the first step for users to "touch" this technology.

This model is similar to how most AI users today don't operate their own data centers at home. Instead, large corporations own the quantum infrastructure and provide remote access to other businesses and researchers.

The quantum computing race, therefore, is not a race of speed, but a race of endurance. The exciting developments at the beginning of 2026 are merely the starting point of a very long journey ahead.

The ultimate machine

Classical computers process information in the form of bits, either 0 or 1. Quantum computers use qubits—units of information that can simultaneously be in both 0 and 1 states thanks to quantum superposition.

When multiple qubits are linked together through quantum entanglement, the number of states the system can represent simultaneously increases exponentially: 50 qubits could theoretically process more than a quadrillion combinations in parallel.

Thanks to this, quantum computers are considered "superior" in problems that classical computers cannot solve - for example, simulating the interaction between drug molecules and body proteins, or optimizing billions of combinations of delivery routes.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lan-song-may-tinh-luong-tu-sau-con-sot-ai-20260410231901369.htm