Strange Things Are Happening in Quantum Computing

Why quantum computing suddenly feels “off” 🧩

Quantum computing is still marketed as the next big revolution, yet the video argues that recent developments look less like physics weird and more like business weird. The core tension: investment and hype keep rising while credible, near-term utility remains elusive.

What a quantum computer actually adds ⚛️

The video clarifies that the real edge isn’t just “more states because 2^n grows,” since classical bits scale that way too. The potential advantage comes from entanglement, enabling superpositions of multi-qubit states that classical machines can’t represent directly. But that advantage likely needs hundreds of thousands to a million qubits, far beyond today’s devices.

Roadmaps, hybrids, and moving goalposts 🔁

IBM’s older roadmap projected thousands of qubits by 2025–2026; newer roadmaps quietly drop those numbers. The narrative then shifts to noisy usefulness, and now to hybrid “quantum-centric” workflows—where classical supercomputers do most of the work, making the quantum contribution hard to isolate.

Money pours in anyway 💰

Despite “zero practical use” so far, governments and industry announce new quantum foundries and “quantum wafers,” even though fabrication isn’t the main bottleneck. With many promised applications eroding—and only codebreaking standing out—the payoff here is a sharper lens for spotting hype versus progress.