IonQ Inc. (IONQ) stock plunged over 5% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, as investors digested the company's prospects in the highly competitive artificial intelligence (AI) market while also considering its recent progress in quantum computing research.

The pre-market decline followed a comparison of IonQ's AI prospects with semiconductor giant Nvidia, which has established a dominant position in the AI chip market and is benefiting from the surging demand for data center infrastructure. While IonQ's quantum computing technology is being utilized by tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon for AI research, concerns were raised about the company's high valuation and lack of profitability compared to Nvidia.

However, IonQ also announced on Tuesday that it has deployed a quantum networking system at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York. This collaboration with the US government highlights the potential of IonQ's trapped ion technology in advancing quantum computing and networking capabilities, which could have applications in fields such as security, materials science, and optimization.