White knighting is a technique applied by members of the oppressor class to further marginalize the oppressed by dismissing their lived experience and distracting from issues that matter to them while feigning sympathy.

Publicly and energetically opposing white knighting on the terms the white knights set is a technique used by the oppressor class to marginalize the oppressed by distracting from issues that matter to them.

No one expending any significant energy on either side of this debate about the social appropriateness of “quantum supremacy” is doing anything but active harm.

To the extent there is a cancerous performance, it's two-sided, and either side pointing to the other as the problem is just part of the show.