Quantum computing is a difficult field to invest in. It’s similar to investing in early-stage biotechs, where there are some promising results, but nothing that points to real future success. Combine that with how many companies are vying for dominance in quantum computing and it becomes a very difficult area to invest in.
Besides, this industry has a lot of hype around it and some of the pure-play stocks like IonQ and Give up the calculationthey see their stocks rise and fall rapidly in line with the market’s risk tolerance.
Many investors may want to steer clear of this industry because of the volatility and lack of a clear leader, which is fine. However, I believe there is a smarter way to invest in quantum computing without having to expose yourself to high-risk investments that have a high chance of paying off.
How? Through an investment in Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL).
Image source: Getty Images.
Alphabet is a large conglomerate of companies, but it is mainly centered around the Google ecosystem. While Google Search and the ad revenue it generates is the core of Alphabet’s business, it is more diversified than that segment.
Alphabet also owns a cloud computing business, Google Cloud. Google Cloud uses compute units from other providers such as Nvidiagraphics processing units (GPUs), to rent computing capacity to customers for a wide variety of tasks. However, they have to purchase those GPUs from Nvidia, which is expensive.
Google also developed the tensor processing unit (TPU) internally in collaboration with Broadcomwhich is one step closer to completely building your own computing hardware. However, Alphabet has chosen to develop its quantum computing hardware entirely on its own, which could pay off big for its cloud computing business if it succeeds.
If Alphabet can win the race to build the first commercially viable quantum computer, then customers will turn to Google Cloud to use this cutting-edge technology. This would have other spillover effects, such as more customers using its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Gemini. Quantum computing technology is expected to greatly reduce the cost of running artificial intelligence training and inference, which would make Gemini the core model if Alphabet can develop a quantum computing edge.
There are other implications, such as its self-driving car division, Waymo. Self-driving technology is incredibly complicated, and it takes a long time to build the models that control the cars. But what if a quantum computer could help? This could provide a huge advantage over the competition and propel Waymo to become the first widespread self-driving network. There’s no guarantee this will happen, but building a quantum computer will certainly give Waymo an edge.
Alphabet has a lot to gain from the development of quantum computing technology and is already showing great signs of progress.
In October, Google announced that its Willow chip had successfully completed the first verifiable algorithm in quantum computing. It ran an algorithm 13,000 times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer, which is a huge improvement. However, that speed is not so fast that the same calculation cannot be performed to check accuracy. This first confirmed quantum advantage is a big deal and has real-world implications because the algorithm used is the same one used in MRI technology in the medical industry.
There are plenty of upsides to Alphabet’s quantum computing research, and not too many downsides. If Alphabet’s quantum computing efforts fail, it still has a strong core business to lean on. If it succeeds, Alphabet will have an edge over the competition in every area it competes in, making it a nearly unstoppable stock. As a result, it’s a great one to buy now and keep for years to come.
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Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Broadcom and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions and recommends Alphabet, IonQ and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Smartest Quantum Computing Stock to Buy for 2026 was originally published by The Motley Fool
