Feb 6, 2026 · 22m · big-technology
Live From D-Wave Qubits: CEO Dr. Alan Baratz on Quantum's Impact, Now and Into The Future
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In a live session from D-Wave Qubits, CEO Dr. Alan Baratz and host Alex Kantrowitz discuss D-Wave's dual-platform strategy, highlighting how quantum annealing solves mission-critical enterprise and defense challenges today while pioneering a credible roadmap toward fault-tolerant gate-model computing.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Alex holds 17.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Alex as informed peer 4.5 Guest teaching 4.5 Guest disagreement 3.5 Alex pushing back 4.0
speaking balance: gold is Alex, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 21:00 Baratz calls D-Wave skeptics nuts
When asked what he tells people on the fence about D-Wave, Baratz bluntly responds 'You're nuts' and vigorously argues that their commercial value and gate-model lead are indisputable.
Hardest push from Alex ▶ 19:37 Kantrowitz turns hype skepticism onto D-WaveAfter Baratz outlines red flags in quantum industry claims, Kantrowitz immediately challenges him to justify why anyone should trust D-Wave's own published claims and roadmap.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:15 Baratz explains error-corrected logical qubit realitiesBaratz educates the audience on the massive overhead of physical qubits required for true error correction and calls rival industry claims of having logical qubits misleading.
Alex holds their own ▶ 7:09 Kantrowitz challenges utility on workforce schedulingKantrowitz pushes back on D-Wave's marketing narrative by noting classical computing already performs workforce scheduling well and demands specific quantum advantages.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Alex as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Alex pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overview of Major D-Wave Corporate Announcements | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Kantrowitz opens by asking Baratz to summarize recent announcements and probes the Anduril defense partnership. Baratz explains how annealing quantum systems are being applied immediately to national security computational challenges rather than long-term research. | |
| Quantum Urgency and Limits of Classical Computing | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | Kantrowitz pushes past high-level claims by questioning why classical computing cannot adequately handle tasks like workforce scheduling. Baratz educates on evolutionary vs revolutionary use cases and cites emergency vehicle placement data. | |
| Quantum Modalities and the Dual-Rail Breakthrough | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | Kantrowitz asks about modality trade-offs between superconducting and competing approaches. Baratz delivers a technical masterclass on speed versus fidelity and aggressively dismisses the viability of competitor architectures following D-Wave's dual-rail acquisition. | |
| Roadmap to Fault-Tolerant Gate-Model Systems | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | Baratz breaks down physical-to-logical error-corrected qubit ratios and dismisses competitors' logical qubit claims as misleading. Kantrowitz presses him to define his vague timeline when he says commercial gate-model systems are 'a few years' away. | |
| D-Wave's Dual-Platform Strategy and Business Growth | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Kantrowitz confronts Baratz on his bold conference claim that quantum computing could eliminate the need to build massive nuclear power plants for AI compute. Baratz defends his stance with early experimental findings while conceding it remains early. | |
| Discerning Industry Hype, Accountability, and Track Records | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | Kantrowitz turns Baratz's warnings about industry hype directly against him, demanding why listeners should trust D-Wave's roadmap over competitors. Baratz forcefully points to D-Wave's sixth-generation hardware track record and bluntly calls fence-sitters 'nuts.' |
Statements from this episode (15)
D-Wave acquires Quantum Circuits to expand into gate-model quantum computing
“Within the last couple of weeks, we did announce that we have acquired quantum circuits which brings revolutionary new gate model technology to D-Wave, and we believe accelerates us to the forefront of gate model computing alongside the fact that we're already…”
D-Wave's $10 million contract is quantum's first large enterprise deal
“This is the first large Enterprise deal, I believe ever for quantum computing, certainly for D-Wave”
D-Wave relocates corporate headquarters from Palo Alto to Palm Beach County
“We are moving our corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California to right here in Palm Beach County”
D-Wave simulates magnetic materials in 20 minutes versus a million classical years
“We demonstrated an example of that, ah, early last year when we showed that we could simulate properties of magnetic materials to aid in new, ah, materials design that could be done on our quantum computer in 20 minutes, but it would take nearly a million year…”
D-Wave quantum computers cut emergency service response times in half
“Leveraging our quantum computers, response time was cut in half, and that really does save lives.”
Quantum Circuits' qubits match trapped-ion fidelity at 1,000 times superconducting speed
“We are talking about superconducting qubits, so it's the speed of superconducting, thousand times faster than the other modalities, but it has the fidelity of trapped ions or neutral atoms, very high quality qubits, making it much easier to error correct, much…”
Baratz claims rival quantum modalities cannot match D-Wave's speed and fidelity
“Frankly, I don't know how the other modalities compete at this point because they don't have the speed that our qubits have. I also don't know how the other superconducting companies compete because they don't have the fidelity. Error correction is going to be…”
Baratz argues no company currently operates a commercial gate-model quantum computer
“Gate model quantum computers are not yet commercial. Nobody today has commercial gate model quantum computers.”
Baratz calls industry claims of achieving logical qubits highly misleading
“You'll hear people say, oh, we have logical qubits. We have this many logical qubits. I want to be kind. That is a very misleading statement. These are not fully error-corrected qubits. They are small error correction. The number of compute terms that they can…”
Commercial gate-model quantum computers remain several years and 100 logical qubits away
“Not until we get to the hundred logical qubits will these systems actually become commercial. So we still have a few years to go before we say that.”
Baratz claims all other quantum computing companies remain purely in R&D
“Unlike any other quantum computing company, which is entirely In the R&D and research experimentation mode, we have commercial systems, so we're also focused on building the business.”
D-Wave claims quantum computing delivers faster AI training with lower power
“The early evidence
From our work with Shinogi indicates that there is an ability for quantum to deliver better, faster trained models and aid in reducing power consumption.”
Baratz predicts quantum computing will demonstrate AI energy efficiency by 2027
“I think we will start to see this benefit emerge this year or early next year.”