arrived

For the better part of the last three years, seemingly nothing has sparked investor interest quite like the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). Empowering software and systems with the tools to make split-second decisions without human intervention, as well as to become more proficient at their tasks over time, is viewed as a game-changing technology for most industries around the globe.

Over the last three decades, there’s pretty much always been a next-big-thing trend or technology to captivate the attention and capital of Wall Street and investors. Prior to AI, there was the advent of the internet, genome decoding, nanotechnology, 3D printing, blockchain technology, and the metaverse, to a name a few key trends.

But in rare instances of outsize optimism on Wall Street, two or more game-changing trends can coexist, as we’re witnessing now with the dual rise of AI and quantum computing.

Image source: Getty Images.

The four biggest pure-play quantum computing stocks — IonQ (IONQ 0.46%), Rigetti Computing (RGTI 5.30%), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 2.00%), and Quantum Computing (QUBT -0.81%) — have rallied between 700% to 5,130%, respectively, over the trailing year (as of Oct. 3). Though optimism is readily apparent, there’s no denying that the time to be fearful when others are greedy has arrived for these four stocks.

What is quantum computing, and why are investors so excited about it?

Quantum computing relies on quantum mechanics to solve complex problems that traditional computers can’t do. What makes quantum computing so exciting is its many real-world possibilities.

For example, quantum computers can be used to run simulations to determine how molecules would behave. These interactions can be quantified to narrow best courses of actions when developing drugs and targeting hard-to-treat diseases. Think of it as genome decoding that’s been ramped up to improve the likelihood of success when developing novel therapies.

Quantum computers can also be deployed to vastly improve cybersecurity solutions. This technology can potentially break existing encryption methods and lead to the development of quantum-resistant solutions that create lock-tight protections for cloud-based systems and end users.

But perhaps the most exciting aspect of quantum computing is what it might be able to do for the AI revolution. Quantum computers can speed up the process by which AI algorithms help software and systems “learn” and become more proficient at their tasks. Training large language models could occur significantly faster with quantum-capable solutions.

Based on one of Wall Street’s lofty estimates, which comes courtesy of Boston Consulting Group, quantum computing can create between $450 billion and $850 billion in global economic value 15 years from now. This high-ceiling estimate corresponds with substantial forward-year sales growth forecasts for the aforementioned pure-play quantum computing stocks:

• IonQ: projected sales growth of 87% in 2026
• Rigetti Computing: projected sales growth of 161% in 2026
• D-Wave Quantum: projected sales growth of 56% in 2026
• Quantum Computing: projected sales growth of 412% in 2026

Though optimism is through the roof, billionaire Warren Buffett’s famous investing advice rings loud: “Be greedy when others are fearful, and be fearful when others are greedy.”

Image source: Getty Images.

The time to be fearful with quantum computing stocks is here

Berkshire Hathaway‘s billionaire boss Warren Buffett has absolutely crushed the benchmark S&P 500 over six decades by sticking to this ethos. He pounces when fear creates advantageous price dislocations and sits on his proverbial hands (or sells shares of existing holdings) when valuations no longer make sense. This latter scenario encompasses the need to be fearful when others are being greedy.

There’s no denying that, on paper, quantum computing offers a compelling long-term growth story. The possibility of improving drug development, cybersecurity, supply chains, financial modeling, and AI algorithms, among other use cases, offers intrigue.

But there’s also a long list of reasons why, if you own shares of IonQ, Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, and/or Quantum Computing, cashing in some or all of your chips right now makes complete sense.

To begin with, history hasn’t exactly been kind to game-changing technologies in their early expansion phase. Looking back more than 30 years, there hasn’t been a next-big-thing trend that’s avoided an eventual bubble-bursting event. Put in another context, investors and businesses have repeatedly overestimated the early stage adoption rate and/or utility of these newer technologies, leading to eventual disappointment.

While I’ve made this same argument with AI, it rings 100 times truer when it comes to quantum computing. Whereas AI hardware is flying off the proverbial shelf, and Wall Street’s most-influential businesses are eagerly deploying AI solutions, quantum computing utility is still very minimal. All the hallmarks of a bubble are firmly in place.

Secondly, these four pure-play stocks are all losing money hand over fist on an operating basis and aren’t particularly close to demonstrating their operating models are viable. Through the first-half of 2025, IonQ’s operating loss more than doubled to $236.3 million from the prior-year period, while Rigetti Computing’s operating loss jumped 27%.

IONQ PS Ratio data by YCharts.

To expand on this point, all four pure-play stocks are valued at price-to-sales (P/S) ratios that absolutely scream “bubble!” Companies on the leading edge of prior next-big-thing trends peaked at P/S ratios ranging from 30 to 40, with a little wiggle room in each direction. The trailing-12-month P/S ratios of Wall Street’s four quantum computing superstars are:

• IonQ: 319
• Rigetti Computing: 1,282.2
• D-Wave Quantum: 375.6
• Quantum Computing: 11,612.3

In no universe do the multibillion-dollar valuations currently assigned to these four stocks justify the relative pittance in continuous sales they’re generating. It’s another sign of a seemingly imminent bubble-bursting event.

The final reason investors should be fearful with these pure-play quantum computing stocks is because the “Magnificent Seven” have deeper pockets and an inside edge to the infrastructure that can fuel an eventual quantum computing revolution. Although companies like IonQ have landed meaningful partnerships, Mag-7 companies have the ability to aggressively spend on quantum computing solutions that may eventually lessen the need for hardware and software solutions from companies like IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing.

The heat hits me as soon as I open the door, the single panes of glass in the wall-width window drawing the late afternoon sunlight into my room. The red linoleum floor and minimalist interior do little to soften the impact; I wonder how I’m going to sleep. On the opposite side of the corridor, another member of the group I’m travelling with has a much cooler studio, complete with a small balcony that I immediately recognise from archive black and white photographs.

Unconsciously echoing the building’s past, we start using this as a common room, perching on the tubular steel chairs, browsing the collection of books on the desk and discussing what it must have been like to live here. At night, my room stays warm and noise travels easily through the walls and stairwells; it’s not the best night’s rest I’ve ever had, but it’s worth it for the experience.

I’m in Dessau, Germany, in the accommodation block once inhabited by students and junior masters at the famous Bauhaus school. Also known as the Prellerhaus, the studios are part of a larger asymmetrical complex of connected workshops, classrooms and social spaces – the iconic Bauhaus Building.

Designed by German architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius after the school moved here in 1925, and completed in 1926, the revolutionary structure is a mix of glass, steel and concrete. It was a physical expression of the school’s ideas and remains a symbol of European modernism to this day. “It landed here like an alien spaceship,” says Oliver Klimpel, head of the curatorial workshop at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

Founded in Weimar in 1919, the highly influential school rejected the principles of local and traditional architecture and design and pursued those that were simple, rational and functional, using innovative ways of teaching and working. Forced to leave Weimar just six years later, owing to financial and political pressure, the school relocated to Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt – then a rising industrial hub with an entrepreneurial spirit and social democratic government – a century ago this year.

What followed was a highly successful period for the school and a stronger focus on developing prototypes of furniture, household objects and other items for mass production. Art increasingly merged with industry. “They switched from solid wood to plywood sheets, from upholstery to steel tubes and iron yarn,” our guide, Anke John, explains, standing in Gropius’s old office, where the stench from the triolin floor still lingers. It was in Dessau that Marcel Breuer designed the iconic Wassily Chair, for example.

Bauhaus buildings also sprung up across town, before the rise of National Socialism saw the school move again in 1932, this time to Berlin, for one final year before the Nazis came to power.

“The empty rooms in the workshop wing appear clean and spacious now, but they were packed with different workshops for printing, weaving, woodwork and metalwork, with tools and machines; it was messy and loud, a maker’s space,” explains Klimpel, adding that the common portrayal of a perfectionist modernist practice in an art school can be very misleading.

While regular heatwaves were less of a problem in the 1920s – temperatures were in the high 30s when I visited – the three-storey glass curtain wall, in pursuit of transparency, still created difficult, greenhouse-like conditions in summer. “It was part of the practical research to see what worked and what didn’t; you learned with the building and lived within the experiment,” adds Klimpel.

The structure has undergone changes over time, including repairs to wartime bomb damage, reconstruction of the facade in 1976, and an extensive restoration project based on the original plans, completed in 2006. Today it’s home to a shop, a cafe, exhibition spaces and the offices of the non-profit Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. The students’ studios are open to overnight guests, each one kitted out with Bauhaus-inspired furniture, some in the style of former residents such as Josef Albers (studio 204) and Marianne Brandt (studio 302).

Visitors can also head to other Bauhaus-related locations in town using a signposted cycle route, taking the number 10 bus (the Bauhauslinie) or by joining a guided tour. I start by walking over to the restored Masters’ Houses, just a short distance away from the Bauhaus Building. Set among towering oaks and pines, these cubic-like white structures with black window frames, plus two abstract rebuilds, are where key figures such as Kandinsky, Klee, Moholy-Nagy and Gropius once lived with their families. It feels sleepy and subdued here now, quiet enough to hear acorns crunching under my feet.

Other spots not to miss include the Kornhaus, a restaurant with a semicircular glazed conservatory on the banks of the Elbe, built in 1929; the Arbeitsamt, the yellow-brick employment office designed by Gropius in 1929; and the Dessau Törten housing estate (1926-28), with its rows of modest two-storey, flat-roofed homes, developed to address the housing shortage. The striking Bauhaus Museum, designed by architects from Barcelona and open since 2019, provides plenty of background information and is home to the second largest collection of Bauhaus-related objects in the world, including teaching notes and drafts from the workshops.

To mark the centenary of the school’s move to Dessau, a programme of events and exhibitions – titled An die Substanz/To the Core – will take place throughout 2025 and 2026, focusing on materials of the modern era. Celebrations kick off this month and include modern interpretations of the so-called Material Dances, part of the course Der Mensch (The Human Being), introduced by Bauhaus teacher Oskar Schlemmer in 1928. Other highlights will include Invisible Bauhaus Dessau, a new digital tour covering the early days of the Bauhaus members in Dessau, and five central exhibitions opening in March 2026.

In between the festivities and the Bauhaus sites, it’s impossible not to notice the decline of this city, which has been merged with Roßlau since 2007. Blocks of GDR flats with worn-down facades are easy to spot and the streets feel quiet, almost deserted, at times. Like many places in eastern Germany, reunification has seen the population shrink, and gradually age. In recent years, the rightwing party Alternative für Deutschland has gained increasing support in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, its influence extending to culture and the Bauhaus.

Coming here requires a degree of imagination and reflection. You have to remind yourself that these buildings and ideas were completely new, occasionally provocative, in the 1920s. That the Bauhaus teachers really lived in those white houses. That the workshops were loud and dusty. That students held wild parties and piled out on to those balconies. That Dessau was once a booming place. That this school from a corner of Germany has found its way into everyday design around the world.

The trip was supported by the German tourist board. For more information about the centenary, see bauhaus-dessau.de. A night at the Bauhaus starts from €55. Toilets, showers and kitchenettes are shared, but found on every floor

It’s been 12 months since Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward tasted arguably the biggest defeat of his career. He was leading the competition until the final lap in the Indy 500 when he was passed by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

That afternoon, O’Ward wept bitterly after again being denied the ultimate victory at a track where he has performed well. During his three Indy 500 appearances, the Monterrey, Mexico, native has two second-place finishes — in 2022 and 2024 — and $3.16 million in winnings.

O’Ward enters Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500 (9:45 a.m. PDT on Fox) as the slight favorite to win the Indy 500.

The other major contender on Sunday is Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou of Spain. The Sant Antoni de Vilamajor native, the reigning IndyCar Series defending champion, has won four of the season’s five races, although he has never won the Indianapolis 500.

Pato O’Ward, front and center, is comforted by a crew member after finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2024, in Indianapolis.

(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

For many, O’Ward also is a sentimental favorite after showing he can rally from setbacks and compete for wins. O’Ward finished last season in fifth place, with three wins and six top-five finishes. He is fourth in the standings with two top-five finishes and one pole.

“It’s the hunger to win, to be able to come back and have another shot. I love what I do, I love my job,” O’Ward told L.A. Times en Español when asked about his resilience heading into Sunday’s race.

This week, the native of Monterrey decided to prepare pozole and quesadillas for his team. When he’s in Indianapolis, he usually tries to avoid the hustle and bustle and concentrate on winning.

“I live, breathe and sleep with racing,” said O’Ward, whose racing career began in karting in 2005.

“This has been a goal that’s been living pretty much in my head for many years,” added O’Ward, who qualified 232.098 mph on the 2.5-mile oval and will enter Sunday’s front row, the first Mexican to do so in the history of the Indy 500.

O’Ward, who drives the No. 5 car, has seven IndyCar Series victories and has progressed far from his early days as an inexperienced kid who shyly gave media interviews.

He has kept a tight circle around him as he has worked to improve.

“For people on the outside, it’s hard for us to welcome them because I like to keep things pretty tight-lipped,” said O’Ward, whose team is made up mostly of family members. “It’s people you trust them with your eyes closed and you always know they’re doing their best for you.”

Today, O’Ward is one of the leading faces of the series, with thousands of fans from around the world wearing T-shirts with his name on them to support him in a stadium that has already sold out its 250,000 seats despite the drama surrounding last year’s winning team.

Team Penske has been in the spotlight after it was punished for using modified attenuators, which resulted in failed technical inspections last Sunday. The team was accused of stuffing and smoothing the seams of the rear attenuator, a part that is standard for all teams and therefore cannot be modified.

Pato O’Ward drives into the second turn during the IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 10.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Upon hearing the news, O’Ward showed his frustration. IndyCar on Monday announced penalties to Team Penske for placing Newgarden and Will Power in the final starting positions for the race, as well as $100,000 fines for each car that failed inspections.

The Team Penske car, which Newgarden won with in 2024, is now in the renovated IMS Museum and features a modified rear attenuator similar to the one seen Sunday at Indianapolis that resulted in penalties. In addition, photos have been released from last year’s race in which the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet appears to have those same modifications.

“Looking ahead to the remainder of the week and this weekend’s race, we will do everything we can to make it clear that these are not only the best races on the planet, but races where the best win under completely fair conditions,” Indycar President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement.

After learning of the punishments, Team Penske owner Roger Penske fired three Team Penske executives: President Tim Cindric, Chief Executive Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer.

Roger Penske owns the IndyCar Series through Penske Entertainment Group, in addition to owning Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500, creating more questions about the perceptions of conflict of interest ahead of Sunday’s race and the rest of the IndyCar Series season.

Palou wants his first Indy 500 win

Palou, known for his calm, consistency and composure on the track, has yet to win the Indy 500. Despite having four wins in the first five races of the season, drawing comparisons to the four straight victories by the legendary A.J. Foyt in 1964, Palou is not satisfied and wants a “life-changing” win.

Palou scored a second-place finish in 2021 in the Indy 500 and earned $2.8 million from that race.

“Obviously, it’s the one race that I know and that we all know is life-changing for a driver. I’ve won four this year and it hasn’t changed my life,” Palou, 28, explained to L.A. Times en Español. “On the other hand, winning this weekend’s 500, the 500 miles, I believe and I know that it changes the life of the drivers who win it.”

Palou, the winner of the 2021, 2023 and 2024 IndyCar championships, qualified at 231.378 mph in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car to start sixth on the grid Sunday.

Spain’s Alex Palou, center, celebrates after winning the IndyCar Grand Prix auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 10. Pato O’Ward, of Mexico, left, finished second and Will Power, of Australia, finished third.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

The Spaniard said he is going through the best moment of his career, not only in sport, but also in his personal life, as he enjoys spending time with his 18-month old daughter, Lucia, born in 2023.

“It’s harder, it’s a lot more work and it’s impossible to have a good strategy to win that competition because every day it changes,” Palou said about caring for his daughter. “But it has been the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. The feeling when she smiles, when she hugs me or when she tells me something. She’s 18 months old now, but she’s still starting to say ‘Daddy’ and she’s starting to say things and it’s amazing.”

Despite winning the second championship in a row, Palou said his team has continued its intense pace.

“I would say that basically that’s the great work of the team and that after winning the championship no one has relaxed. That’s what’s most impressive that it was the other way around, if not that they put in even more effort than they had in 2024,” Palou said.

Palou has also given a lot of credit to his father, who has been his mechanic since he started in karting.

“We spent many, many hours together and many, many bad moments, very hard and also many good ones, but in the end he has been the person who has taught me … to go fast, to brake harder, to have more speed in mid-corner and also how to get up after a bad moment,” Palou said.

Palou was the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar championship in 2021 and wants to continue to inspire future generations of Spanish drivers by proving that you can not only make it to this circuit, but also succeed.

Prema Racing rookie Robert Shwartzman will make his Indy 500 debut in the pole position. It is the first time a rookie has won the Indy 500 pole since 1953. Takuma Sato, a two-time race winner, will join Shwartzman and O’Ward on the front row.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

His smile has brightened the locker room, his bat has energized a once-impotent segment of the lineup and his speed has transformed their offense.

Hyeseong Kim belongs in the major leagues.

Manager Dave Roberts was asked the other night about the “difficult decision” the Dodgers will have to make on Kim when utilityman Tommy Edman and outfielder Teoscar Hernández return from the injured list in the next couple of weeks, but nothing about this decision should be difficult.

Kim will still belong in the major leagues.

There won’t be enough at-bats for him?

The Dodgers have to find them.

He can gain more experience in the minors?

A 26-year-old who played seven-plus seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before he signed with the Dodgers, Kim isn’t a typical rookie.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said part of the reason catcher Dalton Rushing was called up this week was because of the competition in the National League West?

The same logic should be applied to Kim’s situation.

Make liberal use of the injured list. Release Chris Taylor. Do whatever is necessary for Kim to remain in Los Angeles.

“How he’s playing,” Roberts acknowledged, “certainly helps his case.”

Shohei Ohtani homered twice in a 19-2 victory over the Athletics at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. Both times, Kim was on base.

Ohtani, who leads off for the Dodgers, drove in only 10 runs in his first 30 games of the season. The bottom of the order wasn’t hitting or drawing walks

In the first 12 games Ohtani played since Kim was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City, Ohtani collected 18 runs batted in.

Kim batted eighth or ninth in each of the eight games he started through Thursday, and he’d already been driven home by Ohtani five times. The only player Ohtani has driven in more this season: Ohtani.

“A lot easier to pitch to Shohei when nobody’s on base,” Roberts said. “Recently, certainly with Kim and his ability to get on base, there’s always traffic.”

Kim entered the Freeway Series opener on Friday batting .429, a pleasant surprise considering he looked completely overmatched at the plate in spring training. His ability to make contact has enhanced his greatest weapon, his legs.

“He’s really talented,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “He can do a lot of really special things that you can’t see from a lot of players.”

That game-changing speed was on display in just his second major league game when he was deployed as a ninth-inning pinch runner with a one-run deficit against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Kim stole second base and reached third on a dropped third strike, positioning him within 90 feet of the tying run. The next two batters struck out and the Dodgers lost the game, but the cameo performance was a preview of what was to come.

In his first 12 major league games, Kim stole three bases and plated nine runs. Three of his first 12 hits were infield hits.

“I tried to figure out what my role is in this organization, and I’m just trying to control what I can control,” Kim said through an interpreter.

Dodgers coaches also believe Kim’s speed has influenced how opponents attack Ohtani. One particular example that was cited was Ohtani’s three-run, ninth-inning home run in a 14-11 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 9.

Kim was on second base and Michael Conforto was on first when Ohtani came to the plate with one out and the score level, 11-11. Walking Ohtani would have moved the go-ahead run to third base, and with Kim’s speed, any ball put in play by the next batter would have likely resulted in a run. Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson pitched to Ohtani, who launched a 1-2 pitch into the stands in right-center.

“With the speed dynamic [of Kim], it creates stress,” Roberts said. “He can steal a base, go first to third. It certainly opens some things up for the top of the order.”

The Dodgers have scored an average of 7.3 runs per game since Kim joined the team. In the process, he’s become a beloved figure in the clubhouse, overcoming a language barrier to form bonds with a wide range of players that includes everyone from Ohtani to Mookie Betts.

“That started in spring training,” Muncy said. “He was there with a couple of us and just immediately fit right in. He likes to have fun. He’s always smiling, he’s always laughing. He’s really fun to have out there.”

With a three-year deal that could be extended by the Dodgers for an additional two seasons, Kim figures to be a part of their future. But he’s already a reason for why they’re clicking now, and the returns of Edman and Hernández shouldn’t change that.