On World Quantum Day, as the closing bell rang on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, IonQ President and CEO Niccolò de Masi paused to reflect on the company’s steady ascent at the intersection of science fiction and technological reality. IonQ, the first publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company—and still the only quantum player on the NYSE—has been on a campaign to expand both its ambitions and its definition of quantum innovation.

“We set out to build the 800-pound gorilla of the quantum computing space initially, and in the last 3 or 4 years we’ve expanded that vision,” de Masi told NYSE Floor Talk’s Judy Shaw on Friday, describing IonQ’s evolution as now targeting “quantum networking, sensing, and the application of quantum technologies to make sure that our modern world as we know it just gets better and better.”

The Push for Real-World Utility

Once regarded largely as a laboratory curiosity, quantum computing has matured out of speculative theory into practical implementation. Enterprise customers are no longer rare case studies: IonQ now lists industry giants such as Airbus, General Dynamics, Hyundai, and AstraZeneca among its user base. Each, de Masi says, is harnessing quantum computing for distinctly practical challenges.

“General Dynamics uses our computers for fraud and anomaly detection,” he noted. “AstraZeneca, of course, is using quantum computing to model a quantum process which is drug discovery—effectively, right? Molecules and atoms, that’s a quantum system.”

Meanwhile, Airbus is exploring quantum techniques for optimizing cargo loading, and the company’s technology supports efforts in both the creation and disruption of safe-making—quantum encryption standing at both ends of the spectrum as enabler and challenger to traditional security systems, especially critical to blockchain and data-centric industries.

The scope of quantum’s reach, de Masi points out, now spans well beyond computation alone. “Increasingly, we think about our business as the full-fledged quantum industry … not just quantum computing.” The Air Force Research Laboratory is one prominent government partner exploring the use of IonQ systems for national security applications, while Tennessee’s EPB is simultaneously a computing and networking customer.

Maryland: Building a Quantum Stronghold

If Silicon Valley was the cradle of classical computing, IonQ is betting that College Park, Maryland, will play a similar role for quantum information science. IonQ’s roots trace back to the physics labs of the University of Maryland, where co-founder Dr. Chris Monroe conducted some of the field’s foundational experiments on trapped ion quantum systems—a pedigree de Masi is keen to nurture locally.

“Our company was actually born on the University of Maryland campus,” de Masi remarked, adding that Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s recent initiatives create “the capital of quantum, the Silicon Valley of Quantum, being right with IonQ on the campus of UMD.”

Proximity to Washington’s corridor of federal agencies—“the center of national security,” as de Masi describes the DMV—furthers this vision, as quantum technology is seen as critical to maintaining both economic and technological edge in an increasingly complex world.

From Advantage to Advantage

Where some may still see quantum as an experimental enterprise, de Masi is quick to point to measurable business impact already underway. Collaborations with ANSYS, for instance, have demonstrated double-digit speedups—“12% speedups in modeling life-changing blood pumps”—and ongoing projects in materials science, logistics, batteries, and autonomy foreshadow broader transformation.

“Quantum processing units are going to grow the total compute industry the same way that GPUs grew the market beyond what CPUs can do. QPUs will solve problems that CPUs and GPUs either never will or will require so much energy it will simply not be practicable,” said de Masi.

Quantum Future in Focus

For investors and policymakers alike, the debate is now shifting from ‘if’ quantum will matter to ‘when’ it will become ubiquitous. IonQ’s CEO predicted adoption curves familiar to the classical computing age: “Every Fortune 100 CEO has a quantum strategy,” he said, envisioning a future where a company like IonQ may emerge as “a household name.”

With advocacy anchored from the stock exchange to the legislatures of Annapolis and beyond, IonQ continues to position itself at the heart of the quantum ecosystem. And as the NYSE’s closing bell tolled on World Quantum Day, de Masi’s message resonated: quantum is no longer about the far future—it’s about building the essential infrastructure and partnerships to shape the world of tomorrow, today.