Microsoft Releases Majorana 2 Quantum Chip, Moves Scalable Machine Target to 2029 as Competitors Advance

Microsoft released its second-generation quantum chip, Majorana 2, this week. The company also shifted its target date for a scalable quantum machine from 2033 to 2029. Zulfi Alam, Microsoft’s VP for quantum, said the firm previously discussed 2033 as the timeline for a scalable machine.

He said Microsoft is now targeting 2029. Microsoft claims Majorana 2 qubits stay together for an average of 20 seconds. That duration is about 1,000 times longer than the first-generation chip released in February 2025.

Alam said the Majorana 2 performance is effectively 1,000 times better than the previous generation. He described the improvement as a phase change rather than a step function. Microsoft uses a topological qubit approach that offers hardware-based protection against qubit fragility.

Other quantum technologies currently lead Microsoft in development progress. A non-invasive pacemaker device that uses ultrasound was described in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering this week. The device is a sticker the size of a postage stamp placed on the chest and paired to a pocket-sized unit containing batteries and electronics.

The ultrasound pacemaker has been tested on rats and genetically engineered human heart tissue. Approximately 3 million Americans currently have a pacemaker implanted, a technology first invented in the 1950s. 68 billion in an upsized IPO.

JPMorganChase announced a collaboration with AMD and OQC to build a quantum AI research platform in London. D-Wave released its updated roadmap to produce a commercial fault-tolerant quantum machine by 2032. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that he had denied a request to reconsider Anthropic’s status as a supply chain risk.