Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 2, its next-generation quantum chip, claiming a 1,000-fold improvement in qubit reliability and a faster path toward a commercially useful quantum computer.

The company said the new chip was developed with the help of Microsoft Discovery, an agentic AI platform designed to accelerate scientific research. Microsoft now expects to achieve a scalable quantum computer by 2029, cutting its previous timeline in half.

Majorana 2 builds on the topological quantum computing approach Microsoft introduced with Majorana 1 in 2025. The new chip uses an updated materials stack and significantly more stable qubits, which are the fundamental building blocks of quantum computers.

According to Microsoft, the average qubit lifetime in Majorana 2 is now 20 seconds, with some lasting as long as one minute. That marks a substantial improvement over the previous generation and could help address one of quantum computing’s biggest challenges: maintaining fragile quantum states long enough to perform useful calculations.

Longer-lasting quantum states

The company said Majorana 2 achieves this reliability through changes in its materials design. While Majorana 1 used aluminum-based superconductors, the new chip uses lead, a material better suited to shielding qubits from external disturbances that can introduce errors.

“We need to make improvements each year that will get us closer to delivering a computer that we believe will have massive commercial and societal value,” said Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow.

“We’ve got to keep marching to that roadmap to accomplish that, but where are we relative to last year? We’re 1,000 times better.”

Microsoft said the improved qubit stability, combined with operation speeds measured in microseconds and extremely small qubit dimensions, has strengthened its confidence in reaching a scalable quantum computer by the end of the decade.

The company also highlighted the role of Microsoft Discovery in speeding up development. The platform uses autonomous AI agents to assist researchers with tasks ranging from managing data and workflows to analyzing measurements and identifying manufacturing issues.

AI speeds discovery

According to Microsoft, its quantum team used agentic AI to automate complex measurements, optimize fabrication processes, analyze decades of research data, and uncover previously unnoticed problems that affected device performance.

“Agentic AI has permeated almost everything we do—it’s just become kind of a very natural part of our workflow,” Nayak said.

The company said AI agents can help researchers process information across multiple scientific disciplines, generate hypotheses, and identify patterns that may be difficult for humans to detect.

Microsoft also announced the general availability of Microsoft Discovery, allowing organizations to deploy AI agents for scientific and engineering research. The company additionally introduced a preview version of the Microsoft Discovery app, which individuals can download and run locally using a GitHub Copilot account.

The announcement comes as technology companies race to make quantum computing practical for real-world applications such as drug discovery, materials science, energy production, and logistics optimization.

The research describing Majorana 2’s qubit performance, “20 Second Parity Lifetime in an InAs-Pb Device,” is available through Microsoft.

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