Michelangelo once said that “genius is eternal patience.” But it is rare to find many companies today that think much beyond the next quarter, let alone keep plugging away for 20 years at a speculative science project that may never work. That used to be the job of universities. Excitement therefore amps up when a company produces early proof of a significant breakthrough. That has been the research rollercoaster ride that Microsoft has experienced in stubbornly sticking with its novel approach to quantum computing. This week, its persistence paid off as the US tech company unveiled Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a topological core architecture. Microsoft’s ability to exploit a new kind of matter to create a new type of qubit (or quantum bit) promises to accelerate the development of reliable large-scale quantum computing. This is a pivotal moment, it claims, in switching from scientific exploration to technological innovation. “We’re very excited about this,” Jason Zander, Microsoft’s executive vice-president responsible for next-generation technologies, told the FT. “For us, this is a big one. It’s kind of a generational technology like moving from vacuum tubes to a semiconductor.”

Full analysis : Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip carves new path for quantum computing.