Microsoft has announced a major breakthrough in quantum computing with its newly developed Majorana 1 chip, a quantum processing unit built on a topological core. The company claims this advancement will enable practical quantum computing within years, not decades, challenging previous industry projections.
Following the announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to X (formerly Twitter) to reflect on the significance of the development, emphasising that the company has unlocked a new state of matter that can dramatically change computing as we know it. “Most of us grew up learning there are three main types of matter that matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Today, that changed,” Nadella wrote.
He highlighted the introduction of topoconductors, a new class of materials that have enabled Microsoft’s breakthrough. These materials power Majorana 1 and make it possible to scale quantum computing beyond anything seen before.
Nadella underscored the efficiency and miniaturisation that Microsoft’s new qubits provide. “The qubits created with topoconductors are faster, more reliable, and smaller. They are 1/100th of a millimetre, meaning we now have a clear path to a million-qubit processor,” he stated.
For perspective, quantum computing research has long struggled with scalability and stability issues, with even the most advanced quantum chips from Google and IBM containing only a few hundred qubits. Microsoft believes its error-resistant approach will make quantum computing not just possible, but commercially viable within years. "Imagine a chip that can fit in the palm of your hand yet is capable of solving problems that even all the computers on Earth today combined could not!” Nadella added.
Microsoft’s quantum computing roadmap contrasts sharply with predictions from industry leaders. While Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently stated that practical quantum computing is two decades away, Microsoft’s announcement aligns with Google’s five-year prediction and IBM’s 2033 timeline.
The Majorana 1 chip, developed over nearly two decades, is based on Majorana fermions, an elusive subatomic particle first theorised in the 1930s. Microsoft believes these particles reduce quantum errors, making qubits more stable and scalable than those used by Google, IBM, and other quantum players.
Nadella also acknowledged the long and difficult road to this achievement, crediting the Microsoft research teams in Washington and Denmark for their persistence. “Sometimes researchers have to work on things for decades to make progress possible. It takes patience and persistence to have a big impact in the world,” he said.
Microsoft envisions a future where quantum computing drives economic growth across industries by unlocking solutions in medicine, chemistry, and artificial intelligence that are currently beyond classical computing’s capabilities. “This is our focus: When productivity rises, economies grow faster, benefiting every sector and every corner of the globe,” Nadella wrote.
Rahul Mahajan, CTO of Nagarro told Business Today, "Now that we have achieved breakthrough in fabrication, it will be super interesting to be part of the progress in actual scaling, perhaps possible in 2-4 years. We need to be careful and not sell Quantum computers like they will literally replace classical counterparts. Classical is powerful enough and with AI, it will continue to evolve and make classical computations even more powerful. Quantum is not meant for just replacing classical computers! Quantum rather has the potential to open altogether new gates, like simulating nature. Achieving AGI is super hard on classical alone, as part of the solution, we also need to learn to simulate complex nature principles. A super interesting use case to me is simulating human behaviour for AGI class models. Scaling-test, i.e. performance with respect to increase in volume of qubits, will be another critical validation here."