A critique of D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS), amplified by ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli, is challenging the company’s viability, alleging its technology is a potential “dead-end.”
Citing multiple research papers, the viral analysis on X makes the shocking claim that it would take D-Wave’s quantum annealer until 2054 to match the current performance of existing classical solvers, raising serious questions about its claimed quantum advantage.
Check out D-Wave’s stock price here.
‘No Plausible Path’ For QBTS Tech To Become Useful?
The assertion stems from a benchmark study conducted at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany, which compared D-Wave’s machine to VeloxQ, a solver that runs on conventional CPUs and GPUs.
This specific, damning projection is just one piece of a comprehensive argument that D-Wave is being consistently outclassed.
The analysis further alleges that the company failed to qualify for even the initial stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, suggesting the U.S. defense research agency sees “no plausible path” for the technology to become useful.
See Also: Why Is D-Wave Quantum Stock Spiking After Hours
Data From D-Wave’s Latest Hardware Is Underwhelming
According to the thread, D-Wave’s latest hardware is also outperformed by competing systems like Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer and even free software programs like Gurobi and CPLEX on real-world optimization problems.
Beyond performance issues, the critique accuses D-Wave’s management of a pattern of deception, including promoting a research paper on “Scaling Advantage” that was allegedly debunked within a month of its publication.
Tech From Competitors Beats D-Wave’s Performance
The thread also highlights the emergence of what it calls game-changing new technologies, such as “p-computers,” which are described as being millions of times more powerful and more efficient while operating at room temperature.
The post adds that p-computers “surpasses QAOA for quantum, making it clear that the D-Wave annealer is a dead-end tech.”
These serious allegations of technological obsolescence and misleading marketing surfaced just as D-Wave’s stock was trading near 52-week highs last week, fueled by positive news of commercial growth and potential government investment in the quantum sector, creating a stark conflict between the company’s market momentum and the scientific community’s alleged verdict on its technology.
Price Action
Shares of QBTS rose 11.91% on Friday to end at $26.88 per share. It rose 52.25% in the last week, and the stock was up 179.71% on a year-to-date basis and 2,886.67% over the year.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that QBTS maintains a strong trend in the short, medium, and long terms. Additional performance details are available here.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose on Friday. The SPY was up 0.50% at $663.70, while the QQQ advanced 0.68% to $599.35, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On Monday, the futures of the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 indices were lower.
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