Quantum computers could revolutionize the way we tackle problems that stump even the best classical computers.
Single atom transistor recently introduced has been seen as a tool that could lead the way to building a quantum computer. For general introduction how quantum computer work, read A tale of two qubits: how quantum computers work article.
D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article tells that computing company D-Wave has announced that they’re selling a quantum computing system commercially, which they’re calling the D-Wave One. D-Wave system comes equipped with a 128-qubit processor that’s designed to perform discrete optimization operations. The processor uses quantum annealing to perform these operations.
D-Wave is advertisting a number of different applications for its quantum computing system, primarily in the field of artificial intelligence. According to the company, its system can handle virtually any AI application that can be translated to a Markov random field.
Learning to program the D-Wave One blog article tells that the processor in the D-Wave One – codenamed Rainier – is designed to perform a single mathematical operation called discrete optimization. It is a special purpose processor. When writing applications the D-Wave One is used only for the steps in your task that involve solving optimization problems. All the other parts of your code still run on your conventional systems of choice. Rainier solves optimization problems using quantum annealing (QA), which is a class of problem solving approaches that use quantum effects to help get better solutions, faster. Learning to program the D-Wave One is the first in a series of blog posts describing the algorithms we have run on D-Wave quantum computers, and how to use these to build interesting applications.
But is this the start of the quantum computers era? Maybe not. D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article comments tell a story that this computer might not be the quantum computer you might be waiting for. It seem that the name “quantum computer” is a bit misleading for this product. There are serious controversies around the working and “quantumness” of the machine. D-Wave has been heavily criticized by some scientists in the quantum computing field. First sale for quantum computing article tells that uncertainty persists around how the impressive black monolith known as D-Wave One actually works. Computer scientists have long questioned whether D-Wave’s systems truly exploit quantum physics on their products.
Slashdot article D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer comments tell that this has the same central problem as before. D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled. There’s no way to really distinguish what they are doing from essentially classical simulated annealing. Recommended reading that is skeptical of D-Wave’s claims is much of what Scott Aaronson has wrote about them. See for example http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=639, http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=198 although interestingly after he visited D-Wave’s labs in person his views changed slightly and became slightly more sympathetic to them http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=954.
So it is hard to say if the “128 qubits” part is snake oil or for real. If the 128 “qubits” aren’t entangled at all, which means it is useless for any of the quantum algorithms that one generally thinks of. It seem that this device simply has 128 separate “qubits” that are queried individually, and is, essentially an augmented classical computer that gains a few minor advantages in some very specific algorithms (i.e. the quantum annealing algorithm) due to this qubit querying, but is otherwise indistinguishable from a really expensive classical computer for any other purpose. This has the same central problem as before: D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled.
Rather than constantly adding more qubits and issuing more hard-to-evaluate announcements, while leaving the scientific characterization of its devices in a state of limbo, why doesn’t D-Wave just focus all its efforts on demonstrating entanglement, or otherwise getting stronger evidence for a quantum role in the apparent speedup? There’s a reason why academic quantum computing groups focus on pushing down decoherence and demonstrating entanglement in 2, 3, or 4 qubits: because that way, at least you know that the qubits are qubits! Suppose D-Wave were marketing a classical, special-purpose, $10-million computer designed to perform simulated annealing, for 90-bit Ising spin glass problems with a certain fixed topology, somewhat better than an off-the-shelf computing cluster. Would there be even 5% of the public interest that there is now?
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Microsoft says it has harnessed a new state of matter using particles called Majorana fermions, a significant breakthrough to create workable topological qubits — US tech giant says it has harnessed a new state of matter to create the basic building blocks of a quantum machine
https://www.ft.com/content/a60f44f5-81ca-4e66-8193-64c956b09820
Dwarkesh Patel / Dwarkesh Podcast:
Q&A with Satya Nadella on Microsoft’s AGI plan, the quantum breakthrough with Majorana 1, how Muse will change gaming, AI’s legal barriers, AI safety, and more — AGI is not the real benchmark: 10% economic growth is — Satya Nadella on: — Why he doesn’t believe in AGI but does believe in 10% economic growth,
https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/satya-nadella
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2025/02/20/microsoft-again-claims-topological-quantum-computing-with-majorana-zero-mode-anyons/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft has a new quantum computer – but does it actually work?
Researchers at Microsoft say they have created so-called topological qubits, which would be exceptionally resistant to errors, but their claim has been met with scepticism
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2469079-microsoft-has-a-new-quantum-computer-but-does-it-actually-work/#Echobox=1740073682
Microsoft researchers say they have created “topological qubits”, long sought-after components for a radically different kind of quantum computer. This isn’t the first time the firm has made this claim – it attempted to produce these error-proof quantum bits in a similar experiment in 2023, but the results weren’t fully conclusive, raising doubts among colleagues in the field about whether it has fully worked this time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why quantum computers are being held back by geopolitical tussles
Fears that other nations could gain an advantage are holding back the development of quantum computers, with export controls and other restrictions making it harder for researchers to work across borders
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2466718-why-quantum-computers-are-being-held-back-by-geopolitical-tussles/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Light from artificial atoms: Advancing quantum systems with superconducting circuits
https://phys.org/news/2025-02-artificial-atoms-advancing-quantum-superconducting.html#google_vignette
Tomi Engdahl says:
New chip reveals Microsoft’s quantum computing playbook
https://www.edn.com/new-chip-reveals-microsofts-quantum-computing-playbook/#google_vignette
We took a step back and said, ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age, said Chetan Nayak, corporate VP of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft. He was talking about the company’s Majorana 1 chip, which marks a notable development in quantum computing. EDN’s sister publication EE Times takes a closer look at this chip’s topological qubit architecture while providing a technical glimpse of competing products: Google’s Willow processor and the University of Science and Technology of China’s Zuchongzhi 3.0 chip.
New Quantum Computing Breakthrough by Microsoft
Microsoft Enters the Quantum Race with Majorana 1 using Topological Qubits
https://www.eetimes.com/new-quantum-computing-breakthrough-by-microsoft/
Microsoft has unveiled its Majorana 1 chip, marking a notable development in quantum computing. This chip uses a topological qubit architecture, distinguishing it from other approaches in the field and opening new avenues for scalability and stability.
The development arrives amidst ongoing advancements from other major players, such as Google’s Willow and China’s Zuchongzhi 3.0, setting the stage for a competitive phase in quantum computing development.
The core innovation behind Majorana 1 lies in its use of topological qubits, which are designed to be more resilient to environmental disturbances than conventional qubits. This resilience comes from Majorana Zero Modes (MZMs), exotic quasiparticles at the ends of topological superconducting nanowires.
Microsoft’s topological qubit architecture uses aluminum nanowires joined together to form an H. Each H has four controllable Majoranas and makes one qubit. These Hs can also be connected and laid out across the chip like many tiles.
“It’s complex in that we had to show a new state of matter to get there, but after that, it’s fairly simple. It tiles out. You have this much simpler architecture that promises a much faster path to scale,” said Krysta Svore, Microsoft technical fellow.
Creating and measuring Majorana particles
Creating these topological qubits involves a complex process of materials engineering, as outlined in a Nature paper published this week, “Interferometric single-shot parity measurement in InAs–Al hybrid devices.” The Microsoft team developed a novel materials stack consisting of indium arsenide and aluminum to coax Majorana particles into existence.
The system uses digital switches to couple both nanowire ends to a quantum dot, a tiny semiconductor device capable of storing electrical charge. This connection increases the dot’s ability to hold charge, but the exact increase depends on the nanowire’s parity.
The quantum state of the nanowire can be determined by measuring the change in the dot’s charge capacity using microwaves. The dot’s ability to hold charge determines how the microwaves reflect off the quantum dot, returning with an imprint of the nanowire’s quantum state.
The device achieves an assignment error probability of 1% for optimal measurement time. The large capacitance shift and long poisoning time enable this parity measurement.
Comparison with Google’s Willow and Zuchongzhi 3.0
Microsoft’s Majorana 1 enters a competitive landscape, including Google’s Willow processor and the University of Science and Technology of China (UTSC) Zuchongzhi 3.0. Both Willow and Zuchongzhi 3.0 have achieved significant milestones in quantum computing.
Google’s Willow boasts 105 qubits and demonstrates breakthroughs in quantum error correction. Willow can perform computations, such as random circuit sampling, in minutes that would take supercomputers billions of years.
UTSC’s Zuchongzhi 3.0 also features 105 qubits and has demonstrated quantum computational advantage through random circuit sampling experiments. Using an 83-qubit, 32-cycle random circuit, Zuchongzhi 3.0 also conducted a random circuit sampling experiment, producing one million samples in seconds.
Contrasting approaches
While Google and UTSC have focused on scaling the number of qubits and demonstrating quantum computational advantage, Microsoft emphasizes the stability and scalability offered by its topological qubit design. The Majorana 1 chip is designed to scale to a million qubits on a single chip.
“Whatever you’re doing in the quantum space needs to have a path to a million qubits,” Nayak noted. “If it doesn’t, you’re going to hit a wall before you get to the scale at which you can solve the really important problems that motivate us.”
The development of Majorana 1 represents a significant step forward for Microsoft in the quantum computing race.
“Eighteen months ago, we laid out our roadmap to a quantum supercomputer,” said Nayak. ”Today we hit our second milestone, demonstrating the world’s first topological qubit. And we’ve already placed eight topological qubits on a chip designed to house one million.”
Error correction remains a critical area of research in quantum computing. While Microsoft’s topological qubits offer inherent error resistance, further advancements in error correction techniques will be necessary to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computation.
The Majorana 1 can perform error correction through measurements activated by digital pulses that connect and disconnect quantum dots from nanowires. This digital control makes managing the large numbers of qubits needed for real-world applications practical.