Tech Weekly: Microsoft Claims Quantum Lead

Last week, Microsoft claimed a breakthrough in its long-running pursuit of quantum computing, announcing the creation of a new type of quantum bit, or qubit, based on a newly-created state of matter. This development, while met with some skepticism from the scientific community, could potentially accelerate the global race to build powerful quantum computers.

What Are Quantum Computers?

To understand the implications, it's helpful to grasp the basics. Traditional computers store and process information using "bits," which are essentially on/off switches representing either a 0 or a 1. Quantum computers, on the other hand, leverage the principles of quantum mechanics. Imagine a light switch that can be both on and off at the same time – that's the power of a qubit, the fundamental building block of quantum computers. This ability to represent multiple states simultaneously – a concept known as superposition – is what gives quantum computers their potential advantage.

Why Is Quantum Computing a Big Deal?

If the promises of quantum computing are realized, these machines could perform calculations in minutes that would take today's most powerful supercomputers a very long period of time. This capability could lead to breakthroughs in diverse fields, including:

• Drug discovery: Designing new medicines and therapies by simulating molecular interactions.
• Materials science: Creating better-performing batteries, more efficient solar cells, and entirely new materials.
• Artificial intelligence: Accelerating the development of AI algorithms and enabling new forms of machine learning.
• Cybersecurity: It could break many of the encryptions used today, but that is balanced by post-quantum computing and cryptography to prevent the attacks.

Microsoft's Breakthrough

For years, researchers and companies worldwide have focused on making qubits work reliably. Leaders like Google and IBM have invested heavily in superconducting qubits, which, while promising, are notoriously fragile and necessitate significant error correction. Microsoft, however, has charted a different course. It has pursued “topological qubits” that rely on exotic quasiparticles called Majorana fermions. Because these qubits are theorized to be intrinsically more stable, they may require less complex error correction — making it theoretically simpler to build large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

To create its quantum chip, Microsoft said its researchers created the world’s first “topoconductor.” The topoconductor exploited a state of matter called “topological superconductivity” that previously only existed in theory, Microsoft said.
The technical details are complex, involving super-tiny wires cooled to near absolute zero and tuned with magnetic fields. But Microsoft said its quantum chip, called Majorana 1, was designed to scale up to a million qubits on a single chip.

Today, Microsoft says it has made significant headway. In a press release and a new paper published in Nature, the company claims to have successfully produced and tested a topological qubit, even integrating eight such qubits on a single chip.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella underscored the announcement in a post on X:

Most of us grew up learning there are three main types of matter that matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Today, that changed. Imagine a chip that can fit in the palm of your hand yet is capable of solving problems that even all the computers on Earth today combined could not!

If proven correct, this milestone would represent a major leap forward for quantum research. Still, skepticism persists in parts of the scientific community.

Some researchers, such as physicist Henry Legg at the University of St Andrews, question whether Microsoft has conclusively observed Majorana zero modes. They point to worries about impurities and a lack of comprehensive data in earlier work. “The optimism is definitely there, but the science isn’t there,” Legg remarks.

Others, like physicist Sankar Das Sarma, offer a more hopeful perspective:

They have satisfied many of the necessary conditions for a Majorana qubit, but there are still a few more boxes to check. The progress has been impressive and concrete.

Quantum and Geopolitics

Beyond the scientific debate, Microsoft’s announcement carries strategic significance for the geopolitics. What began as an academic pursuit has transformed into a geopolitical race with far-reaching economic and security implications. As Boston Consulting Group noted back in 2022:

Every country is vying to get a head start in the race to the world’s quantum future. A year ago, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia teamed up to develop military applications of digital technologies, especially quantum computing technologies. That followed the passage in 2019 of the National Quantum Initiative Act by the U.S. Congress, which laid out the country’s plans to rapidly create quantum computing capabilities.

China, for instance, is investing billions of dollars in quantum research, with estimates topping $15.2 billion—outstripping US government funding. The European Union, the UK, and other nations are also pouring resources into quantum initiatives, aware of how transformative the technology could be across defense, cybersecurity, and commercial sectors.

A recent DefenseScoop article emphasizes these stakes:

China is outspending the U.S. four to one in federal quantum technology investment and is steadily closing the technology gap. If the U.S. wants to continue to lead the quantum computing race and be the first to fully leverage the power of quantum synthetic data, we must bolster public and private investment in quantum technologies.

What's Next?

The quantum race is on, and Microsoft's breakthrough has significantly raised the stakes. But we may still be decades away from seeing real world application of quantum computing. In a keynote presentation last month, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, doubted that useful quantum computers can arrive anytime soon:

If you kind of said 15 years... that'd probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it's probably on the late side. But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it.

AI & Security

OpenAI Bans Users in China, North Korea Suspected of Malicious AI Activities

OpenAI has taken action against users from China and North Korea who the company believes were exploiting its AI technology for malicious purposes, including surveillance and opinion manipulation, Reuters reports. According to OpenAI, authoritarian regimes could leverage AI tools for malicious reasons. The activities were detected by the company using AI tools.

In one case, users leveraged ChatGPT to create negative news articles about the US in Spanish, which were then published by mainstream Latin American news outlets under a Chinese company’s name. Another instance saw actors, potentially connected to North Korea, using AI to generate fake resumes for fictitious job applications at Western companies. Accounts connected to a Cambodian financial fraud operation used OpenAI's technology to create comments across social media. The US government has expressed concerns about China's alleged use of AI to spread misinformation and undermine security.

Quick Hits

• Alibaba's AI Pivot: Investors are optimistic about Alibaba's AI pivot and planned major investments.
• Microsoft's AI Game Model: Microsoft has developed an AI model for video game creation.
• Google Opens India Stores: Google is set to open its first physical stores in India, challenging Apple.
• Apple Custom Modem: Apple unveils custom modem chip, reduces reliance on Qualcomm.
• AI Recruiting Unicorn: Mercor, an AI recruiting startup founded by 21-year-olds, raised $100M at a $2B valuation.