Quantum Is About More Than Computing. It’s About Supercharging AI.

[written by Merlin on August 19, 2026 on Substack]

Artificial intelligence has become the defining technology story of the 2020s. Companies are investing heavily in AI infrastructure, software, and services, with IDC projecting global AI spending of approximately $307 billion in 2025. [info.idc.com]

At the same time, another technology is quietly moving from research labs into corporate strategy: quantum computing.

According to research highlighted by The Wall Street Journal and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), enterprises spent approximately $300 million on quantum computing in 2025. Enterprise spending surpassed the combined investments of academia and government for the first time and helped push the overall quantum market to roughly $550 million. [datacenter...namics.com], [linkedin.com], [web-assets.bcg.com]

While $300 million may sound modest compared with other technology markets, the trend is significant because businesses are investing before quantum computing has reached widespread commercial adoption. For many executives, quantum is no longer a science experiment. It is becoming a strategic technology that could help power the next generation of artificial intelligence. [datacenter...namics.com], [web-assets.bcg.com]

Why Companies Are Investing in Quantum Now

One of the biggest lessons from the AI boom is that preparation matters.

When generative AI suddenly became commercially important, companies that had already invested in data infrastructure, cloud capabilities, and machine learning expertise were able to move faster than their competitors. Many organizations that waited found themselves scrambling to catch up.

Business leaders do not want to repeat that experience with quantum computing. While nobody knows exactly when quantum systems will deliver large-scale commercial value, many companies believe that waiting for certainty could leave them years behind. As a result, they are investing now in talent, research, software development, partnerships, and pilot projects.

BCG found that more than 60% of surveyed enterprises are spending more than $1 million annually on quantum initiatives. The firm also reported a 50% increase in enterprise quantum proof-of-concept projects between 2022 and the end of 2024. [datacenter...namics.com]

In short, businesses are not necessarily investing for today’s returns. They are investing to be ready for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Why Quantum Matters to AI

Many people think of quantum computing as another computing platform competing with artificial intelligence. A better way to think about it is as a technology that could eventually make AI more powerful.

Today’s AI systems require enormous computing resources. As AI models become larger and more sophisticated, the amount of processing power needed to train and operate them continues to grow.

Quantum computing offers a fundamentally different way of processing certain types of calculations. Researchers and technology companies are exploring how quantum systems could help solve complex optimization, simulation, and discovery problems that are difficult for classical computers. BCG highlights potential applications in areas such as drug discovery, catalyst design, and logistics optimization. [web-assets.bcg.com]

That is why companies are paying attention. The long-term opportunity is not AI versus quantum. It is AI enhanced by quantum computing.

If quantum technology achieves its potential, it could help AI tackle problems that are currently too costly, too slow, or too complex to solve efficiently.

Quantum Is Tiny Compared with Other Technology Markets

Despite growing interest, quantum computing remains a small market compared with cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity.

In 2025:

• Gartner projects worldwide public cloud spending to reach $723 billion in 2025. [gartner.com]

• IDC projects worldwide AI spending of approximately $307 billion in 2025. [info.idc.com]

• Gartner forecasts cybersecurity spending of roughly $213 billion in 2025. [gartner.com]

• Enterprise quantum spending, by comparison, totaled approximately $300 million. [datacenter...namics.com], [linkedin.com]

The importance of quantum computing is therefore not its current size. The importance lies in where businesses expect the technology to be by the end of the decade.

Most Companies Won’t Buy Quantum Computers

A common misconception is that businesses are preparing to purchase large numbers of quantum computers. That is unlikely.

Quantum computers are extraordinarily complex machines that often require specialized facilities, advanced cooling systems, and highly trained technical teams. For most organizations, owning quantum hardware would be expensive and impractical.

Instead, quantum computing appears to be following the same path as cloud computing.

Twenty years ago, companies bought servers and operated their own computing infrastructure. Today, most organizations rent computing resources from cloud providers. They purchase access rather than ownership.

Quantum computing is expected to evolve in much the same way.

The Rise of Quantum-as-a-Service

One of the most important business trends in quantum computing is the emergence of Quantum-as-a-Service (QaaS).

Rather than purchasing quantum hardware, companies are expected to access quantum capabilities through cloud platforms and specialized service providers. Current enterprise spending already includes partnerships with vendors and access to quantum systems through cloud-based services. [linkedin.com], [web-assets.bcg.com]

In the future, a pharmaceutical company might use a quantum-enabled platform to accelerate molecular research. A bank might access quantum-powered optimization services to improve investment models. A manufacturer could run complex simulations through a cloud-based quantum platform to improve supply chain efficiency.

In each case, the customer is not buying a quantum computer. The customer is buying a service that delivers a business outcome.

This model should sound familiar because it resembles how companies consume AI today. Most businesses do not build their own large AI models or operate their own supercomputers. Instead, they access AI through software, cloud platforms, and APIs.

Quantum computing may develop in exactly the same way.

The Road to 2030

BCG believes that growing enterprise demand, combined with advances in hardware and error correction, could make 2030 a commercial inflection point for quantum computing. The firm estimates that the overall quantum market could grow to between $2.5 billion and $5 billion by the end of the decade. [datacenter...namics.com], [web-assets.bcg.com]

Whether those projections prove accurate remains uncertain. What is becoming increasingly clear, however, is that businesses no longer view quantum computing as purely a research project.

The companies investing today are not preparing to fill their offices with quantum machines. Instead, they are building expertise, testing use cases, and learning how to integrate quantum capabilities into their AI and digital strategies. They expect most quantum computing to be delivered through cloud-based services, much as AI and cloud computing are consumed today. [linkedin.com], [web-assets.bcg.com]

If that vision becomes reality, the $300 million businesses spent on quantum computing in 2025 may eventually be remembered as the moment companies stopped asking whether quantum computing would matter and started preparing for how it could supercharge the next era of artificial intelligence. [datacenter...namics.com], [linkedin.com]