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Alphabet is a leader in quantum and artificial intelligence.
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Microsoft has created a new state of matter for its quantum technology.
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NVIDIA is bridging the gap between traditional computing and quantum computing.
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10 stocks we like better than Alphabet ›
Quantum computing investing is something that concerns many investors. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a big theme right now, with investors focusing on this area, and quantum computing may become important in a few years.
With this in mind, I think the smartest move for investors is to look at the artificial intelligence aspects of some of the companies that are also competing in the quantum computing space. There are several companies doing this, and I think they are the best quantum computing acquisitions in 2026.
on my shopping list letter (Nasdaq: Google) (Nasdaq: Google), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)and NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)Because all of these companies are great at artificial intelligence but also have large quantum computing businesses.
Google’s parent company Alphabet has been investing heavily in creating in-house quantum computing solutions. This has several benefits, but it’s all meaningless if it doesn’t produce actionable results. The biggest obstacle facing quantum computing becoming mainstream is its accuracy, because it is very difficult to control the mechanics of particles to use them in quantum computing. However, Alphabet is starting to see some positive results.
Back in October, Alphabet announced that it had achieved the first verifiable quantum advantage. Its algorithms run 13,000 times faster than traditional supercomputers. The algorithm has applications in many fields, but its biggest use case is MRI technology.
By taking a step toward commercial viability, it shows that Google’s efforts are not in vain, and that with the vast resources Alphabet has as a company, it can continue to fund Google’s quantum computing research. Even if Google’s pursuit of quantum computing fails, Alphabet is still a strong company in the field of generative artificial intelligence, making it a stock worth owning.
Microsoft has a similar background to Alphabet in that it has nearly unlimited resources to devote to quantum computing. The reason both companies want to develop in-house solutions is so they don’t need to pay external computing vendors for their computing hardware. This has become prohibitively expensive for AI because Nvidia reaps huge profits from cloud computing providers like Microsoft and Alphabet. If each company could develop its own solutions in-house, it could cut out the middleman and make its cloud division more profitable.
Microsoft’s quantum computing pursuit takes science to the next level as it claims to have created a new state of matter as a by-product of its quantum computing pursuit. There are a lot of new technologies being developed in this industry, and Microsoft is a big part of it.
Similar to Alphabet, if its pursuit of quantum computing doesn’t pan out, the stock will still be a good investment as its platform has become the go-to choice for building artificial intelligence models.
Finally, there’s Nvidia. The semiconductor giant appears to have been included on this list because it isn’t as committed to building quantum processing units (QPUs) as other companies. Instead, it focuses on the most powerful traditional computing unit available, the graphics processing unit (GPU).
However, it is aware of the impact quantum computing could have on the industry. It believes quantum computing will be most useful in a hybrid approach, where quantum and conventional computing methods are used in tandem to speed up computing processes.
Quantum computing systems do not easily interface with the large-scale computing infrastructure built for artificial intelligence and other computing methods. So Nvidia launched NVQLink, which allows quantum computers to plug into the interface to network into traditional computing stacks.
If Nvidia’s hybrid approach is correct, it will be in good shape by selling the best of traditional compute unit and access port technologies. However, if the QPU starts displacing more workloads than expected, it could lose a huge market. We’ll see if Nvidia’s bet pays off, but so far, things seem to be going well for the world’s largest company.
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Keithen Drury works at Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Alphabet, Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: Long January 2026 Microsoft calls at $395 and short January 2026 Microsoft calls at $405. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
3 Top Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy in 2026 Originally published by The Motley Fool