This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

Alphabet spikes after Google announces 'breakthrough' quantum chip
Shares of Google's parent company Alphabet rose 6% on Tuesday, a day after the company hailed its latest quantum computing chip as a "breakthrough." On Monday, Alphabet revealed its "Willow" chip, which performed a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years — that's 1 followed by 25 zeros — Google said.

U.S. Steel shares tumble over concerns Nippon deal with fall through
Shares of U.S. Steel slid almost 10% on Tuesday following a Bloomberg report that U.S. President Joe Biden will kill the attempted takeover of the company by Nippon Steel. The deal is currently under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. But it is not all bad news for foreign investors, as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said people or companies who invest at least $1 billion in the U.S. will get "fully expedited approvals and permits," including environmental approvals.

Inflation report on Wednesday to show faster rise
The U.S. consumer price index report on Wednesday is expected to show that the headline inflation rate has risen to 2.7%, in November, up from the 2.6% in October, according to Dow Jones estimates. If economists are right, the reading could mean that progress has stalled in bringing down the inflation rate. Core inflation is forecast at 3.3%, or unchanged from October.

Dow notches fourth straight day of losses
U.S. markets fell on Tuesday as the S&P 500 lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.25%, with both indexes notching back-to-back losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for a fourth day, slipping 0.35%. European markets snapped an eight-day winning streak, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 0.52%.

[PRO] Trump's proposed tariffs cause unintended consequences: Bernstein
Trump's proposed tariffs could have unintended consequences for certain brands, such as negative sentiment from Chinese consumers that could hurt U.S. companies' sales in that country, Bernstein found.

The bottom line

What is quantum computing, and how does it work? 

In classical computing, information is stored in bits. Each bit is either a one or zero. Quantum computing uses quantum bits or qubits which can be zero, one or something in between.

If you thought that sounded like something out of the Marvel multiverse, you are not alone. Every time a company comes up with a quantum computing breakthrough, such as Alphabet's Willow chip, the million-dollar question is: "What can it be used for?"

Will we see faster laptops, faster smartphones, or can quantum computing be used for artificial intelligence applications? Will we be able to say "Open the pod bay doors please, HAL?" to a quantum computer? 

Proponents of quantum computing claim it will be able to solve problems that current computers can't. The theory is that quantum computers will be able to process much larger volumes of data, leading to potential breakthroughs in areas like medicine, science and finance.

Shares of Alphabet surged 6% on Tuesday, but could this enthusiasm be unfounded? After all, if there are currently no real world uses for quantum computing, the solution cannot be put to solving problems, let alone commercialized. 

In short, quantum computing needs to have a purpose. It needs a "ChatGPT moment", as an analyst told CNBC, where people can utilize the technology such as how the chatbot allowed the world to tangibly experience artificial intelligence. 

HAL may just have to wait a while. Which as fans of Stanley Kubrick's epic "2001: A Space Odyssey" might know, isn't necessarily a bad thing.

— CNBC's Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.