Quantum leap

Microsoft breakthrough a historic moment but without real-world results, it's still an open race to the top

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MICROSOFT'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF its Majorana 1 quantum chip marks a historic moment in the field of quantum computing. Unlike Google's and IBM's quantum processors, which focus on increasing the number of qubits, Microsoft is taking a different approach by prioritising stability and scalability. This is important for the future of quantum computing as this field deals with a major limitation - correcting errors. Simply put, digital computers use binary computing (bits), meaning they process data in strict 1s and 0s. In other words, any calculation undertaken on a digital computer can be done in only one set of numbers at a time. Quantum computers, on the other hand, use qubits, which can exist in multiple states at once, potentially making them exponentially more powerful for certain tasks. This is because there's no such limitation of sequential computing and several tasks can be done simultaneously.