Accelerate scientific discovery with Microsoft quantum and AI | DEM314
Roman Lutchyn presents a Microsoft Build 2026 demo on Majorana 2, Microsoft’s latest topological quantum chip, and how AI-accelerated R&D is being used to speed up materials and device iteration toward scalable quantum computing.
Overview
This session goes beyond the Build keynote to explain what’s new in Majorana 2, Microsoft’s latest topological quantum chip, and why recent progress matters for building a scalable quantum machine.
Key themes include:
- A reimagined material stack and what it enables for the new quantum processing unit (QPU)
- What one-minute qubit lifetimes imply for quantum error correction
- How AI-driven optimization is used to accelerate R&D across large design spaces
- Updates on the Microsoft Quantum software stack and the broader path to scale
Session outline (from chapters)
Breakthrough in material stack and new QPU
- Introduces the material and device advances behind the new chip.
Quantum chip overview: topological core
- Provides a high-level view of the chip architecture and the role of a topological core.
Science behind the qubit design
- Explains the scientific concepts motivating the qubit approach and design choices.
Fabrication and recipe development challenges
- Discusses practical challenges in quantum device fabrication and developing reliable “recipes” for building devices.
Shortening development cycles
- Covers approaches to accelerating innovation and reducing iteration time in R&D.
Miniaturization potential
- Describes the long-term scaling vision, including the idea of a million-qubit chip in a credit-card-sized form factor.
Reading qubit states via capacitance
- Notes that capacitance changes can indicate qubit states 0 and 1.
One-minute qubit lifetime
- Highlights a qubit lifetime extended to about a minute, described as a 1000× improvement over aluminum devices.
AI-driven optimization
- Describes using AI-driven methods to optimize across hundreds of design parameters.
Links
- Build 2026 next steps: https://aka.ms/build26-next-steps
- Microsoft Build sessions: https://build.microsoft.com