Quantum Computing Needs to Focus on Benefits

AI lab leaders seem hell-bent on scaring the public with their predictions of mass unemployment and the end of humanity. In May 2023, the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind all signed a single sentence:

“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”

Prior to AI, the technology sector did what most businesses do when talking about their products: emphasize the benefits. I can’t say for sure why CEOs of AI companies are using fear to capture the imagination of the public. Perhaps it is to initiate a discussion about the risks of AI and to engage policymakers.

A cynical take would be that the labs are doing this as a way to grab attention, control the narrative, and create a sense of a burning platform with a clear path to safety. Some have accused Dario Amodei of having a savior complex — only Dario and Anthropic understand the technology and scope of the problem and therefore are best positioned to solve it. A Pentagon official put it less politely, calling him “a liar” with a “God complex.” A kind of “trust us — we created this monster, and we can tame it.” Others have accused AI labs of attempting to manipulate policy-makers in order to achieve regulatory capture, guaranteeing them a dominant position.

Whatever the case, it’s a pretty wild go-to-market strategy, one that seems to create more discomfort and antipathy towards the tech in the public’s mind.

When I look at the quantum computing industry I see a similar kind of marketing that emphasizes destruction — in this case, the breaking of cryptography.

I can easily convince myself that the technical challenge of building a quantum computer that can break cryptography is meaningful. Shor’s algorithm has been around a long time, and it has been viewed as a kind of prize to go after: a simple and clear proof that quantum computers actually work. From a research perspective it would be a huge success. The research domain is small, however, and the general public doesn’t really pay attention to it.

Now that quantum is moving out of the research world and into the commercial world, it is time for the industry to emphasize the constructive capabilities of quantum. Not that I think industry should halt the pursuit of cracking cryptography; there are legitimate customers (e.g., governments) that want this. Rather, the industry should be telling stories about the scientific and commercial breakthroughs that benefit humanity, that make us healthier and our lives better through chemistry, medicine, energy, and materials science.

It would be advantageous for the industry to establish some kind of Q-Prize that focuses on these domains rather than on cryptography.^[1] At some point, Q-Day will come, and some might feel that their world is not much safer, inspiring a negative sentiment towards quantum. They may even want to have a moratorium on building quantum computers that are powerful enough to run Shor’s algorithm. If there is no good news about quantum, no clear benefit to refer to, then the story could devolve into skepticism and distrust of this new technology.

In an ideal world, the industry’s go-to-market plan would drive towards achieving beneficial milestones and make much of them before announcing a Q-Day breakthrough. And once those benefits are known, the arrival of Q-Day would be viewed with less fear and uncertainty.

I do see some of this appearing in recent communications from IonQ. Testifying before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee in November 2025, CEO Niccolo de Masi led with materials science, drug discovery, and energy, and made a point of the hardware itself:

“Trapped-ion systems run at room temperature. They don’t need giant refrigerators or exotic facilities, so they use far less power, fit in standard data centers, and plug directly into modern AI workflows.”

This is progress. But the industry could do more to establish clear milestones around achievements that make our lives better.