- Microsoft unveiled Majorana 2, a quantum chip with qubits 1,000 times more reliable.
- The chip achieves average qubit lifetimes of 20 seconds, with some lasting over a minute.
- As per execs, Microsoft now expects to build a scalable quantum computer by 2029.
Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 2, its latest quantum computing chip, claiming a 1,000-fold improvement in qubit reliability compared with the previous Majorana 1 design.
The company also accelerated its quantum computing roadmap, saying it now expects to achieve a scalable quantum computer by 2029, cutting its previous timeline in half.
Majorana 2 Delivers Large Jump in Qubit Stability
The biggest upgrade comes from the chip’s qubits, the basic units of quantum information. According to Microsoft, Majorana 2’s qubits can maintain their quantum state for an average of 20 seconds, with some lasting more than one minute. The first-generation Majorana chip achieved qubit lifetimes between one and 12 milliseconds.
For comparison, many quantum systems measure qubit stability in microseconds. Microsoft Technical Fellow Chetan Nayak said the team is now roughly 1,000 times ahead of where it was a year ago in terms of qubit performance.
The company also said Majorana 2 performs operations in one microsecond while using qubits that measure just one-hundredth of a millimeter.
New Materials Drive the Breakthrough
Majorana 2 replaces the aluminum-based superconductor used in Majorana 1 with a lead-based design.
Microsoft said the lead provides stronger protection against environmental disturbances that can disrupt fragile quantum states. The company spent years refining the new materials stack before integrating it into the latest chip.
The semiconductor region was also upgraded using a combination of indium arsenide and indium arsenide antimonide. According to Microsoft, the material changes were the primary reason behind the jump in stability and device quality.
The company believes the improved reliability, faster operations, and smaller qubit size put it on a path toward commercially useful quantum systems.
AI Played a Vital Role
Microsoft said agentic AI tools inside its Microsoft Discovery platform were heavily involved in the development process.
The quantum team used AI agents to analyze nearly two decades of research data, automate measurements, manage fabrication workflows, identify manufacturing flaws, and suggest new solutions.
Researchers also used AI to simulate material combinations before physical testing. Microsoft said this reduced the amount of laboratory experimentation required to find promising designs.
Zulfi Alam, Corporate Vice President for Quantum at Microsoft, said AI-driven automation significantly shortened measurement cycles that previously took weeks to complete manually.
The company also developed internal AI agents capable of organizing information across physics, engineering, fabrication, software, and architecture teams spread across multiple countries.
Microsoft added that researchers remain responsible for final decisions, describing the system as “scientist in the loop” rather than fully autonomous research.
Related: Bitcoin Security Faces Fresh Test From Quantum Computing Progress
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