Microsoft’s recently revealed quantum computer was dealt another blow this week, as data presented by the firm at the world’s biggest annual gathering of physicists failed to convince researchers that the device works as advertised. “Thanks for waking up early and coming out today. I appreciate you all in the back,” said Chetan Nayak at Microsoft, opening his presentation at the American Physical Society (APS) Global Summit in Anaheim, California, on 18 March. His 8am talk, trailed as providing key new data about Microsoft’s controversial Majorana 1 chip, was so well-attended that the conference’s organisers had to remind people not to sit in the aisles. All quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, to process information. These can be constructed in various ways, and in Microsoft’s quantum computing technology they are supposedly based on a type of exotic quasiparticle called a Majorana zero mode (MZM). This is a big deal, since MZMs can theoretically be used to create a kind of qubit called a topological qubit, which would be less likely to introduce errors into calculations than other forms of the technology. Being error-prone is one of the biggest challenges holding quantum computing back, making topological qubits incredibly attractive to researchers.

Full report : Key physicists say Microsoft quantum computing chip Majorana-1 claim still lacks evidence.