Wall Street loves talking about artificial intelligence (AI) in the abstract — cloud graphics processing units (GPUs), data lakes, large language models. But AI’s next chapter is physical. It’s drones patrolling borders autonomously, robots rolling down sidewalks with your dinner, and quantum chips tackling problems classical computers can’t touch. These three tiny companies sit at the bleeding edge of that transformation, and the market is only just beginning to notice.
Image source: Getty Images.
Ondas Holdings(NASDAQ: ONDS) has evolved from a niche private wireless vendor into a defense-adjacent autonomy platform. Through the Ondas Autonomous Systems division — which houses American Robotics and Airobotics — Ondas provides fully automated, AI-driven drone systems for military, border security, and industrial inspection applications.
The numbers tell the story. Third-quarter 2025 revenue hit $10.1 million, up 582% year over year, driven by deliveries of Iron Drone and Optimus systems to defense and public safety customers. Management has raised its 2025 guidance to $36 million and is targeting $110 million in 2026 revenue, with positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) expected in the second half.
The real catalyst? Ondas just won a strategic government tender to deploy an autonomous border-protection system involving thousands of drones — beating major defense primes as the prime contractor. The first purchase order is expected in January 2026. With $433 million in cash and nearly double this amount on a pro forma basis, Ondas has the runway to execute. The risk is dilution — Ondas raised roughly $855 million since June — and contract execution in a notoriously slow-moving government procurement environment.
Serve Robotics(NASDAQ: SERV) is betting that last-mile delivery becomes a robot-first business. Serve’s AI-powered sidewalk robots now operate across Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, and Fort Lauderdale, having completed over 100,000 deliveries from more than 2,500 restaurants.
What changed in 2025 was the diversification of platforms. In October, Serve struck a deal with DoorDash to expand robotic deliveries beyond the existing Uber Technologies partnership. That breaks exclusivity and dramatically expands potential order volume. Q3 revenue increased approximately 210% year over year, and Serve aims to deploy 2,000 robots across the U.S. by year-end.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been evangelizing physical AI as the next computing frontier, and Serve is one of the cleanest public pure plays on that thesis. The sub-$1 billion market cap could look microscopic if the Uber-DoorDash partnerships compound into a defensible network. However, unit economics remain opaque, regulatory friction looms in densely populated cities, and both delivery giants could pivot to competing solutions at any time.
Rigetti Computing(NASDAQ: RGTI) isn’t a stock for the faint of heart. The pure-play quantum computing company builds superconducting quantum processors and sells access via cloud and on-premise systems. Think of it as attempting to become the Nvidia of quantum — except quantum commercial viability remains years away.
Q3 2025 revenue came in at $1.9 million against a $20.5 million operating loss. Yet, the stock has surged more than 3,500% over the past year, pushing the market cap to roughly $9.2 billion. That’s not a typo — investors are paying nearly 5,000 times annualized revenue for category exposure.
What’s real? Two commercial on-premise quantum system orders totaling $5.7 million and a $5.8 million U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract suggest early enterprise and government demand. If quantum computing becomes commercially important this decade, Rigetti offers one of the few relatively pure public exposures. But the valuation assumes success in a race where IBM, IonQ, and D-Wave are competing with different architectures and deeper pockets.
None of these companies is safe. All three are small caps burning cash, and shareholders will likely face dilution along the way. But for investors who believe autonomous systems, physical AI, and quantum computing represent trillion-dollar opportunities — and who size positions like call options rather than core holdings — Ondas, Serve, and Rigetti deserve serious due diligence right now.
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George Budwell, PhD has positions in D-Wave Quantum, IonQ, Nvidia, Rigetti Computing, and Serve Robotics. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends DoorDash, International Business Machines, IonQ, Nvidia, Serve Robotics, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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