Majorana 2: Microsoft brings us closer to a quantum computer that is reliable 2026

TL;DR: Microsoft has announced Majorana 2, a new quantum chip whose qubits are 1,000 times more reliable than its predecessor. The new announcement brings us much closer to a quantum computer that will be reliable and therefore more practical. Forecasts want it to come in 2029.

Research into quantum computers is now huge and just last year we saw Majorana 1, Microsoft's first quantum processor. With Majorana 1, Microsoft showed that the physics around it works. Now it takes the technology one step further and we arrive at something that could become practical and reliable.

What is a quantum computer and why do we care?
The computers we have to date process information in bits, that is, small units that have a value of either 1 or 0. In quantum computers, however, we have qubits, which can be 0 and 1 at the same time. This means that we can make calculations that until now were considered impossible. We are talking about incredible processing power, which has the ability to revolutionize medicine, physics and chemistry and the sciences in general. At the same time, it can bring us tremendously strong encryption that simply won't be broken.

However, we have one problem so far. Qubits are extremely error-sensitive, and technologies to date have had high error rates. Now, Microsoft says it has solved this problem, with Majorana 2.

Majorana 2: What's new and why is it special?
The new Majorana 2 brings 1000 times more reliable qubits than Majora 1 and this is a huge leap for Microsoft. To achieve this Microsoft had to make a simple change of materials, but it made a huge difference.

In Majorana 1 qubits have lifetimes of 1 to 12 milliseconds, while in Majorana 2, lifetimes exceed 20 seconds and in some cases exceed 1 minute.

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Diagram of Majorana 2 topological qubits (tetrons)

To put things into perspective, imagine that you are trying to do a calculation, but the computer's memory forgets all the data within a fraction of a second. This was also the main reason that quantum computers until now have been prone to errors. But now, with the "memory" of the processor lasting much longer, we have enough time to complete the calculations required.

How did Microsoft do with Majorana 2? The materials!
It seems that a simple replacement in the materials was enough to bring about the big change. With Majorana 2, the company replaced the aluminum it had in the first generation, with lead. At the same time it changes the semiconductor active area with a combination of indium arsenide and indium arsenide antimonium. This change leads to a significant improvement in performance, protecting qubits from interference and errors twice as much as compared to its predecessor.

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New Majorana 2 material with lead instead of aluminum for more stable qubits

According to Microsoft itself, artificial intelligence was also a big help, allowing the team to overcome complex engineering challenges faster than they could with conventional methods. On the other hand, like other companies, Microsoft is also promoting artificial intelligence, so we don't know how much it helped the project, since it didn't give us specific numbers.

Target in 2029
According to Microsoft, Majorana 2 accelerates the roadmap toward a scalable, practical quantum computer, which will bring the goal to fruition by 2029. But competition from IBM and Google has also made great strides. All of them are actively investing in quantum computing, with investments reaching many billions.

But Microsoft is changing its strategy and instead of targeting the most and most unstable qubits, it is focusing on the fewer but much more reliable ones. This seems to be the right way to have a technology that can actually be functional.

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