Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, and IBM were among the quantum computing news makers last week as quantum computing stocks continued their roller coaster ride in 2025.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected Microsoft and startup PsiQuantum for the final phase of a quantum computer program. DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) aims to validate and co-design an industrially useful quantum computer.
"We will now focus our efforts on designing a prototype of a topological quantum computer," said Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft quantum engineer in a blog.
At an investor day on Feb. 4, IBM updated its strategic quantum computing roadmap. IBM aims at demonstrating the first "error-correct" fault tolerant quantum computer by 2028.
"This is one of the biggest milestones for the field and achieving this will definitely bring this quantum revolution to the market," said Jay Gambetta, IBM vice president-quantum, according to a FactSet transcript of the event.
Also, IBM said it has booked $1 billion in revenue from quantum technology on a cumulative basis.
Quantum computers use quantum bits known as qubits to encode information. Quantum computers generate and control qubits to perform computations.
As it stands, the most advanced quantum machines still only use hundreds of qubits, and scaling up the technology will be key. Qubits are prone to errors, which are compounded when scaled.
Quantum Computing Stocks
A high-level Google executive told Reuters that the company aims to bring commercial quantum computing applications to market within five years. "We're optimistic that within five years we'll see real-world applications that are possible only on quantum computers," said Hartmut Neven, Google vice president of engineering.
Quantum stocsk rallied in December after Alphabet's Google announced the "Willow" quantum computing chip.
But quantum computing stocks have pulled back in 2025. As of the market open on Feb. 10, IonQ is down 3% while Rigetti Computing has retreated 16%. D-Wave Quantum has dropped 31% and Quantum Computing has shed 44%.
Meanwhile, D-Wave announced that its Qubits 2025 quantum computing user conference will take place in Scottsdale, Ariz. starting March 31. The conference will feature presentations from D-Wave executives, customers, and industry thought leaders.
Further, here's an in-depth look at the quantum computing market.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
