Disclaimer: I used to work in quantum computer hardware development until earlier this year. I didn't read the Financial Times article because it is pay-walled

Disclaimer: I used to work in quantum computer hardware development until earlier this year. I didn't read the Financial Times article because it is pay-walled, but some of the things that Oxford Physicist said are not completely on the level. For instance, the comment, "[quantum computers are] so error-prone that any information one tries to process with them will almost instantly degenerate into noise". I would say this is not really true already and increasingly likely to be entirely false in the future... Quantinuum's trapped-ion QC's have high enough fidelity to run basic error correcting codes such that the logical qubits have higher fidelity than physical qubits, which also continue to improve in fidelity. IonQ, IBM, and others continue to make major strides in qubit fidelity, which is to say "major strides in reducing and controlling noise in the hardware system." Is there too much hype in quantum computing? Yes. Some companies are over-hyping their progress or possibly lying. Other companies are reserved and honest. I think the same has happened in many high-risk, high-reward fields of exploration... especially when venture capital is involved. Is developing fault-tolerant quantum computing systems incredibly challenging? Yes. The so-called "war on error" is protracted struggle with numerous fronts and theaters of action. Will we be able to develop useful quantum computing systems? I'm not sure but there is no clear physics that shows it is impossible... although some physicists feel otherwise. But solid progress continues to be made by many companies. Overall, I think the large R&D push in QC is a net positive. We may develop useful QC systems. Scientific history is full of smart people who said something was impossible only to have it happen years later. Our understanding continues to evolve. i think it is far too early to throw in the towel. QC hardware requirements are also funding and pushing developments in many fields: laser systems, real-time embedded hardware, digital-analog circuits, vibration control, electromagnetic shielding, cryogenic systems, applied mathematics, and so many other application specific areas, as well. A lot of good advances in these disciplines are being funded by QC R&D.