Can We Ever Trust Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang Following His About Face on Quantum Computing

The CEO Playbook: How Guidance Moves Markets

In public markets, words move money. CEOs of publicly traded companies have tremendous power to influence stock prices during earnings calls—not by lying, but by carefully managing tone and guidance. By slightly understating performance expectations, executives can set up an easy “beat” for the next quarter, triggering a stock surge. This tactic is particularly effective because earnings calls happen about one month into the new quarter. At that point, CEOs already have real-time visibility into orders, shipments, and receivables. With two months still to go, they already know how the quarter is likely to shape up—barring some catastrophe. So when a CEO tells you the road ahead is foggy, and then clears the fog 90 days later with upbeat results, it’s often not insight. It’s orchestration.

That’s exactly the pattern we’re now seeing with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang—and his recent about-face on quantum computing should raise more eyebrows than it has.

The January Hit Job: “Decades Away” and Stocks Plunge

It goes back to my January 6, 2025 Substack article entitled “Quantum Computing Stocks: Breakthrough Opportunity or Speculative Bubble?”

In January 2025, Huang made headlines by dismissing the sector outright. Speaking to analysts and journalists, he stated that useful quantum computers were likely “decades away.” The result? A swift and brutal sector-wide selloff. Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) dropped 32%. Rigetti (RGTI) fell 35%. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) lost nearly 30%. Huang’s timing was striking, as it came just weeks after many of these stocks had rallied into the new year. The damage was swift and deep—and investors took the message at face value.

I reported and discussed this just two days later in my January 8, 2025 Substack article entitled “Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang Kills Quantum Stock Momentum.”

March Reversal: GTC’s “Quantum Day” and a Shift in Tone

But just two months later, in March, Huang reversed course. At Nvidia’s first-ever “Quantum Day” at its U.S. GTC developer conference, the company announced the formation of the NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center and began signaling clear interest in the technology. Huang moderated a fireside chat with a dozen startups, including PsiQuantum and SandboxAQ, and discussed quantum-classical integration openly. It was a moment of strategic repositioning—subtle, but significant.

I became suspicious about the abrupt turnaround and penned my May 13, 2025 Substack article entitled “Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Wants to Buy a Quantum Computing Company — And He’s Playing 4D Chess.”

June Bombshell: “Quantum Is at an Inflection Point”

Now, in June 2025, Huang has made it official. Speaking at Nvidia’s GTC Europe conference in Paris, he delivered what might be the most bullish statement yet:

“Quantum computing is reaching an inflection point. It is clear now we’re within reach of being able to apply quantum-classical computing in areas that can solve some interesting problems in the coming years.”

From “decades away” to “within reach”—in just six months. And from slashing valuations in January to investing in companies like SandboxAQ and reportedly entering advanced funding talks with PsiQuantum. That’s not thought evolution. That’s market manipulation masquerading as strategy.

The Market Consequences: Narrative Engineering and Cheap Entry

The implications are more than semantic. When Huang made his initial dismissive comment in January, quantum stocks weren’t the only casualty. Investor sentiment evaporated. Startups found it harder to raise capital. The narrative—crafted by one of the most influential voices in tech—shifted decisively negative. Then, with valuations depressed, Nvidia began quietly engaging.

And now, with a public declaration that quantum is “at an inflection point,” the conditions are ripe for Nvidia to announce a stake in PsiQuantum or another key player—validating the sector just after it bought in cheap. The sequence mirrors how large players consolidate emerging markets: discredit, observe, acquire, promote.

Strategic Messaging or Strategic Deception?

To be clear, Huang is hardly alone in playing the public guidance game. But this pattern—three clear and market-moving statements spaced almost evenly across two quarters—raises a different kind of question. Should we take Jensen Huang at face value when it comes to strategic technologies? Or should investors read his comments less as analysis and more as signals of strategic positioning?

There’s no doubt quantum computing is still in its early innings. But there’s also no doubt Huang has quietly moved from skeptic to orchestrator. In January, he crashed the market. In March, he began laying claim. And now in June, he’s rebranding the entire space as ripe for application. The stocks, once left for dead, are creeping back to life.

Conclusion: Don’t Watch What He Says—Watch What He Buys

This raises a larger point for investors: when a CEO of Huang’s stature speaks, it often pays not to believe the words—but to track the moves. Quantum computing may still be years away from wide commercial use, but Huang just told you it’s now central to his long-term playbook. The only question that remains is: whose version of reality was priced into the market when he said the opposite?

In public markets, the truth is rarely spoken plainly. It’s often hinted at, reshaped, or withheld until timing is favorable. Huang may be right that quantum computing is reaching an inflection point. But the real inflection point already happened—when the CEO of one of the world’s most powerful technology companies decided it was time to change the narrative. Again.

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