Microsoft’s Majorana 2 chips push quantum computing toward practicality by 2029

Microsoft unveils Majorana 2, a next-gen topological quantum chip that replaces aluminum with lead and updates the semiconductor region, boosting qubit lifetimes from milliseconds to tens of seconds (with some devices exceeding a minute). Built on an improved material stack and aided by Microsoft Discovery’s agentic AI, the company says the roadmap to a scalable, practical quantum computer has been halved, targeting 2029, and it’s releasing Discovery to customers to accelerate R&D.