Microsoft to ship world’s most advanced quantum computer in 2025

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced a breakthrough in quantum computing that could slash the expected timeframe for mainstream usage of these powerful computers from decades to months. 

The Redmond-based tech giant recently revealed that it achieved the largest logical entangled state across all hardware architectures, with 24 logical qubits produced from 80 physical qubits. For context, researchers previously believed it would take thousands of physical qubits to produce one logical qubit.

In quantum computing, physical qubits are the fundamental building blocks. However, they are notoriously prone to errors from environmental noise or hardware defects, which make them unreliable for quantum computing at scale and beyond scientific experiments. Logical qubits, on the other hand, are abstract and are encoded across multiple physical qubits. Their key advantage is the presence of error-correction mechanisms, which make them more stable and scalable.

In Microsoft’s implementation, the 24 logical qubits were entangled by neutral atoms and held in place by lasers. If any atom disappeared, the system instantly detected it and automatically corrected it without interrupting the quantum computing processes. 

This qubit virtualization system is indispensable to the commercial viability of quantum computers, says Microsoft Azure Quantum’s Krysta Svore.

“When an atom is lost, we want to know it happened, and then we also want to be able to correct for that loss. We want to be able to overcome that loss without halting the computation. It’s a key element of what we bring to the qubit virtualization system.”

Microsoft partnered with California-based Atom Computing in the venture. According to Microsoft executive vice president Jason Zander, the two intend to start shipping the world’s most powerful quantum computing machines, built on this technology, next year. 

Zander believes the computer will “accelerate scientific discovery and bring us closer to solving problems once deemed impossible.”

“Our vision for reliable quantum computation aims to empower customers with state-of-the-art tools and compress time-to-solution from years to days.”

Microsoft’s announcement comes days after Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) announced the world’s most advanced quantum error correction system. Tested on Google’s quantum computer Sycamore, the new system—AlphaQubit—recorded up to 30% performance improvement in test environments.

The implications of these and other advancements in quantum computing for blockchain technology remain unknown. Some worry that quantum computing could crack classical encryption methods that blockchain networks rely on. Others believe that quantum computers could enhance proof-of-work (PoW), although this could cost existing mining equipment.

Watch: Adaptable blockchain system to tackle real-world problems