Microsoft creates chip it says demonstrates quantum computers are 'years, not decades' away

Microsoft unveiled its quantum computing chip Majorana 1 on February 19. /Microsoft

Microsoft unveiled a new chip on Wednesday, claiming that it demonstrates quantum computing is "years, not decades" away from becoming a reality. The company joined Google and IBM in predicting that a fundamental shift in computing technology is closer than previously believed.

The chip, named Majorana 1, is the world’s first Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) powered by a Topological Core, designed to scale to a million qubits on a single chip, the company said on its website, with a research paper published in academic journal Nature.

The company stated that the chip is fabricated using indium arsenide and aluminum. It employs a superconducting nanowire to detect particles and can be operated using standard computing equipment. Such design aims to reduce error rates compared to existing quantum processors.

The chip is claimed to be less prone to errors than its rivals, and the company provided a scientific paper as evidence. Quantum computing holds the potential to perform calculations that would take today’s systems millions of years, unlocking breakthroughs in fields like medicine, chemistry, and many others where classical computers struggle with the near-infinite number of possible molecular combinations.

Microsoft did not give a timeline for when the chip would be scaled up to create quantum computers that can outstrip today's machines, but the company said in a blog post that point was "years, not decades" away.

Jason Zander, the Microsoft executive vice president who oversees the company's long-term strategic bets, described Majorana 1 as a "high risk, high reward" strategy.

The chip was fabricated at Microsoft labs in Washington state and Denmark.