Nature Paper Challenges Microsoft’s 2029 Quantum Roadmap as Majorana Evidence Faces New Doubt
Updated
Updated · Computerworld · Jun 25
Nature Paper Challenges Microsoft’s 2029 Quantum Roadmap as Majorana Evidence Faces New Doubt
3 articles · Updated · Computerworld · Jun 25
Summary
A peer-reviewed Nature paper by St Andrews physicist Henry Legg says Microsoft’s Topological Gap Protocol is flawed, casting fresh doubt on whether its Majorana chip results show the quantum states needed for scalable computing.
Legg argues the signals Microsoft highlighted could be explained by noise or other effects, and says the company’s analysis may have been skewed by the data selected rather than the raw experiments alone.
Microsoft still stands by its results and 2029 roadmap, with quantum hardware chief Chetan Nayak citing the company’s DARPA US2QC work and a rebuttal that Nature also published.
The dispute cuts to Microsoft’s two-decade bet on topological qubits: its 2018 Majorana evidence was retracted after challenge, yet the company this month unveiled Majorana 2 and claimed a 1,000-fold reliability gain.