In an exclusive interview with The Korea Daily at the Reagan National Economic Forum on May 29, Niccolo de Masi, CEO of quantum computing company IonQ, said quantum computing will become a core technology that determines the future of artificial intelligence, national security, drug discovery, semiconductors, and energy.
โWe think that quantum technologies, from computing to sensing to networking, are all inflecting right now,โ de Masi said. He added that quantum technology as a whole is rapidly moving toward commercialization, not only in computing but also in sensing, networking, and security.
De Masi pointed to IonQโs technological track record as a key source of its competitiveness.
โOur founders built the worldโs first quantum logic gates in 1995,โ he said. โJust last month, we published the worldโs first shovel-ready blueprint for how weโre going to build our fully fault-tolerant quantum computers.โ
โNobody else in the world has either of these technical bookends,โ he added. โFirst quantum logic gate, first shovel-ready, full fault-tolerant blueprint.โ
De Masi described IonQ as a company that has created the market both technically and commercially.
โIonQ has been the pioneer. We have been the market maker, both technically and commercially,โ he said. โWe are the largest quantum company in history by every measure โ patents, PhDs, employees, revenue, balance sheet, market cap.โ
He said the nature of questions from governments and companies has changed. A few years ago, he said, they asked, โWhat is quantum computing?โ Now, the questions have shifted to โWhat should our quantum strategy be?โ
De Masi said, โWe are making quantum happen sooner by spending more and more money on R&D and by aggressively commercializing not just computing, but our entire quantum platform.โ He noted that many customers are already purchasing more than one IonQ solution, including quantum computing, networking, security, and sensing.
Asked about the perception that quantum computing is commercializing more slowly than AI, de Masi said quantum is simply at an earlier point on the same curve.
โAI is a rebranding of what we used to call classical machine learning,โ he said. โClassical machine learning has been working since the 1960s; you can argue itโs been worked on for 60 years.โ
He compared the current stage of quantum computing to the years before ChatGPT became a mainstream turning point.
โI think if you looked at ChatGPT-1, you would have said that it is a curiosity. If you looked at ChatGPT-2, you would have said thatโs a hobby. But when ChatGPT-3 came along, everybody all of a sudden went, โOh, well, we have moved into a different era,โโ he said.
De Masi predicted that quantum computing would change the structure of AI itself.
โIn the medium and long term, AI will be about classical West Coast correlation-engine GPUs plus probabilistic quantum algorithms that produce deterministic outcomes working together,โ he said. He said users may access quantum computers through classical devices such as phones or through the cloud, creating hybrid workflows that combine conventional computing and quantum algorithms.
One of the points he emphasized most was โQ-Day,โ the moment when quantum computers become powerful enough to break todayโs encryption systems.
โI have said since last June that Q-Day was going to come by the end of this administration,โ de Masi said. โIonQ believes that we will be able to run Shorโs algorithm in that period of time.โ
He said China is also targeting 2029 and added that what was once seen as an aggressive timeline is now gaining broader acceptance.
โLast summer, people said that I was being aggressive in stating that Q-Day would happen in 2028 or 2029. Now, Google agrees. Governments agree. Everyone sees that I was right,โ he said.
De Masi also emphasized that quantum technology is closely tied to national security.
โDefense really is about resilience for nations,โ he said. โAt the end of the day, the economy is the weighing machine that allows countries to fight.โ
He stressed that IonQ is not a weapons manufacturer, but said its technology could transform the foundation of national competitiveness.
โIonQ doesnโt make bullets,โ he said. โBut we are an integral part of driving economic growth. We are an integral part of solving all of the problems that every aspect of applied science needs, from drug design, computational chemistry, and computational engineering to building the semiconductor chips of the future and building the energy of the future.โ
He said quantum sensing technology is already being used in defense-related areas.
โOur quantum platform is in every warfighting domain, from submarines to satellites and ships and land and drones,โ he said. โWeโre doing all of that, so itโs a broad-based approach to economic resilience, economic growth, and, of course, kinetic capabilities.โ
De Masi also expressed optimism about cooperation with South Korea. Hyundai Motor was one of IonQโs early investors, and he said there is significant room for cooperation in the automotive, battery, and semiconductor sectors.
โWe did early work with them on batteries and materials, and weโre very proud of that,” he said. “I think weโre just getting started and just scratching the surface of what we can do, not just in South Korea, but in the automotive sector and the semiconductor sector.โ
De Masi cited South Koreaโs strength as a country that invests early in technology platforms.
โSouth Korea is an amazing country. You have always invested in infrastructure and technologies around the corner,โ he said. โI used to be in the mobile phone business, and we were always envious of the fact that fiber and 4G and 3G all happened in Korea first.โ
He said South Koreaโs early investments in infrastructure could translate into future advantages in quantum technology.
โJust like broadband has done amazing things for research, economic growth, and collaboration, our partnership with KISTI and South Korea overall, we are very confident, is going to lead to incredible advances in every aspect of applied science,โ he said.
He also spoke about Jungsang Kim, a Duke University professor and IonQ co-founder.
While Chris Monroe was the scientist who built the first quantum logic gate, de Masi said Kim has played a crucial role in advancing the engineering and technology behind IonQโs quantum platform.
โJungsang has been very instrumental in driving engineering progress, physics engineering progress, and high technology progress of that initial quantum logic gate with Chris for decades,โ he said.
He described Kim as โa tremendously smart individualโ and โa very humble man, very determined man, very hard worker.โ
โHe will work 16 hours a day in the lab and then still get on the plane and go somewhere else,โ de Masi said. โSo very dedicated to the mission. Itโs obviously been a lifelong mission for both him and Chris.โ
De Masi expressed confidence in IonQโs future growth.
โIt has taken us five years to go from a $2 billion market cap to about $26 billion today,โ he said. โI think the next five years will see the same type of growth, if not more.โ
He added that IonQโs market value has already grown about tenfold since its IPO and said he believes the company could grow tenfold again, and eventually even more, if quantum adoption accelerates.
โThere will be a day, just like we have a 10-times bigger market cap today than when we IPOโd, when weโre 10 times bigger again,โ he said. โAnd I hope a day when weโre 100 times bigger again.โ
De Masi said, โQuantum has been worked on for decades, but weโre still just getting started.”
The quantum computing industry is only at the starting line.
