Microsoft (Quantum) — vendor dossier

Microsoft (Quantum)

Quantum computers
M

Topological-qubit quantum-computing programme inside Microsoft Research, built on indium-arsenide / aluminium "topoconductor" heterostructures hosting Majorana zero modes. The dossier scopes the Microsoft Quantum division (led by Krysta Svore) and its Station Q condensed-matter lab in Santa Barbara; it excludes Microsoft's broader cloud, AI, and productivity businesses. The same division operates Azure Quantum, a hybrid cloud platform that brokers access to third-party hardware (IonQ trapped ions, Quantinuum H-series, Pasqal neutral atoms, Rigetti superconducting, plus others) alongside Microsoft's own topological roadmap.

HQ
Redmond, Washington, USA
Founded
1975
Status
public
Last verified
Sun May 24 2026 08:00:00 GMT+0800 (Singapore Standard Time)

Timeline

2005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026202720282029today
2005
Microsoft establishes Station Q at UC Santa Barbara — long-term research bet on topological quantum computing
2021-03
Retraction of Kouwenhoven et al. (Nature 2018) "Quantized Majorana conductance" — earlier Microsoft-affiliated Majorana claim withdrawn after re-analysis
2023-06
Microsoft Quantum, 'InAs-Al hybrid devices passing the topological gap protocol', Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 — the protocol later contested in published Comments
2024-02
DARPA US2QC programme advances Microsoft to next phase — design of a fault-tolerant prototype based on topological qubits
2025-02
Majorana 1 unveiled — 8-qubit topological processor on an InAs/Al "topoconductor" heterostructure; companion Nature paper reports interferometric single-shot parity measurement
2025-02
Aghaee et al. (Microsoft Quantum), 'Interferometric single-shot parity measurement in InAs-Al hybrid devices', Nature 638, 651-655
2025-02
DARPA selects Microsoft and PsiQuantum for the final Validation & Co-Design stage of the US2QC programme — fault-tolerant prototype design
2027-20
DARPA US2QC fault-tolerant prototype — small-scale system processing logical qubits backed by thousands of topological physical qubits
Founded 1975 shipped milestone public roadmap

Current flagship

Majorana 1 — 8-qubit topological processor on InAs/Al "topoconductor" heterostructure (research prototype)

Milestones

  1. 2025-02
    Majorana 1 unveiled — 8-qubit topological processor on an InAs/Al "topoconductor" heterostructure; companion Nature paper reports interferometric single-shot parity measurement
    Quantum computers press source ↗
  2. 2025-02
    Aghaee et al. (Microsoft Quantum), 'Interferometric single-shot parity measurement in InAs-Al hybrid devices', Nature 638, 651-655
    Quantum computers paper source ↗
  3. 2025-02
    DARPA selects Microsoft and PsiQuantum for the final Validation & Co-Design stage of the US2QC programme — fault-tolerant prototype design
    Quantum computers press source ↗
  4. 2024-02
    DARPA US2QC programme advances Microsoft to next phase — design of a fault-tolerant prototype based on topological qubits
    Quantum computers press source ↗
  5. 2023-06
    Microsoft Quantum, 'InAs-Al hybrid devices passing the topological gap protocol', Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 — the protocol later contested in published Comments
    Quantum computers paper source ↗
  6. 2021-03
    Retraction of Kouwenhoven et al. (Nature 2018) "Quantized Majorana conductance" — earlier Microsoft-affiliated Majorana claim withdrawn after re-analysis
    Quantum computers paper source ↗
  7. 2005
    Microsoft establishes Station Q at UC Santa Barbara — long-term research bet on topological quantum computing
    Quantum computers blog source ↗

Roadmap

  • 2027-2028 DARPA US2QC fault-tolerant prototype — small-scale system processing logical qubits backed by thousands of topological physical qubits source ↗
  • long-term Utility-scale topological quantum computer at ~1 M qubits on a single palm-sized chip source ↗

Capability details

Quantum computing

Qubit type
majorana
Physical qubits
8
Logical qubits
0
1Q gate fidelity
—
2Q gate fidelity
—
T₁
—
T₂
—
EC code
—
Connectivity
—
13 unverified fields
  • modalities.qc.one_q_fidelity
  • modalities.qc.two_q_fidelity
  • modalities.qc.coherence_t1_ms
  • modalities.qc.coherence_t2_ms
  • modalities.qc.ec_code
  • modalities.qc.connectivity
  • modalities.qc.gate_set
  • modalities.qc.physical_qubits_current — 8 reflects the Majorana 1 device topology described in Microsoft's Feb 2025 announcement; the underlying Nature paper demonstrates interferometric parity readout on a single device pair, not gate operations across 8 qubits
  • modalities.qc.qubit_type — Topological / Majorana-zero-mode encoding is Microsoft's claim; independent groups have published Comments contesting both the 2023 topological-gap-protocol paper and the 2025 Nature parity-measurement paper; peer-reviewed responses pending.
  • key_personnel.1.since — Svore has led Microsoft's quantum software work since the mid-2010s; the current Corporate VP / division-lead title dates to around 2023 per public bios
  • key_personnel.2.since — Troyer joined Microsoft from ETH Zurich in 2017; current Technical Fellow / Corporate VP title dates from later
  • roadmap.0.target — DARPA US2QC Stage C (Validation & Co-Design) timeline is not publicly disclosed in months; "2027-2028" is a best-effort estimate from programme structure
  • shareholders

People

  • Satya Nadella — Chairman & CEO, Microsoft (since 2014-02) ↗
  • Krysta Svore — Technical Fellow & Corporate Vice President, Advanced Quantum Development (since 2023) ↗
  • Matthias Troyer — Technical Fellow & Corporate Vice President of Quantum (since 2017) ↗
  • Chetan Nayak — Technical Fellow; Scientific Lead, Station Q (since 2005) ↗
  • Michael Freedman — Distinguished Scientist; Founding Director, Station Q (since 2005) ↗

References