Frankly, the article reads as if the author has an axe to grind. On utility, there's more than just Shor's: unstructured search [1], finance ([2], [3]). Even i

Frankly, the article reads as if the author has an axe to grind. On utility, there's more than just Shor's: unstructured search [1], finance ([2], [3]). Even if quantum computers ultimately prove unfruitful commercially, that doesn't render it a useless endeavor. Like String Theory, it can beget findings in other areas, regardless of whether you can profit from them: novel classical recommendation algorithms ([4]), quantum algorithms for SAT that could possibly help automated theorem proving ([5]). Part of the difficulty of quantum computing is that to show speedup, you need to find complexity bounds on classical problems whose runtime is actively being researched, e.g. neural networks ([6]). As for their financial worthwhileness, while there is valid concern ([7], [8]), it's far too early to tell: it's hardware, not software. Also, it's my understanding that private investment is much larger than public funding in the US for quantum computing, both of which pale in comparison to China's investment. Thus, I wouldn't want to see investors shy away if the government is unwilling to make up the difference! [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover%27s_algorithm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover%27s_algorithm [2] - https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.02666 https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.02666 [3] - https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.08040 https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.08040 [4] - https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=3880 https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=3880 [5] - https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/36428/do-any-quantum-algorithms-improve-on-classical-sat https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/36428/do-any-qu... [6] - https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.01198 https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.01198 [7] - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/topological-quantum-computing/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/topological... [8] - https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.03137 https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.03137