Amazon thinks the long-promised era of useful quantum computing may finally be within reach. According to CNBC, Peter DeSantis, Amazon's AI chief, predicts that the first "commercially useful" quantum computers could arrive within five to seven years.
The forecast was widely reported across outlets including Yahoo Tech, Firstpost, GuruFocus and Stocktwits, all citing DeSantis's remarks.
What would these machines actually be good for? According to Newsbytes, DeSantis expects the earliest practical applications to land in fields like chemistry and materials science. Firstpost echoes that point, noting early uses would likely show up in chemistry and materials research rather than everyday computing.
That framing matters. Quantum computing has long been hyped as a technology that could break encryption or supercharge artificial intelligence, but the nearer-term promise DeSantis describes is more specific: simulating molecules and materials, a task that trips up even today's most powerful conventional supercomputers. Designing new drugs, batteries or industrial materials could become dramatically faster if the technology delivers.
It's worth keeping the source of the prediction in mind. This is a forecast from an executive at a company that sells quantum computing services, not an independent milestone or a working product announcement. A five-to-seven-year window is also a familiar refrain in the quantum field, where timelines have a habit of slipping.
Still, the comments add to a growing chorus of major technology companies signaling that quantum computing is moving from distant theory toward practical engineering.
Why it matters: if Amazon's timeline holds, a technology that has spent decades as a laboratory curiosity could start solving real-world scientific problems within the decade.