At Microsoft, we’re accelerating scientific discovery with a first-of-its-kind commercial offering

The promise of quantum computing is in its ability to solve some of the most complex problems in science, medicine, and technology in a fraction of the time it takes today. At our annual Ignite conference, 微软 Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella will share how we are delivering on this promise through our collaboration with Atom Computing . Together, we are co-designing and building what we believe will be the world's most powerful quantum machine, which will accelerate scientific discovery and bring us closer to solving problems once deemed impossible.

Together, we are co-designing and building what we believe will be the world's most powerful quantum machine, which will accelerate scientific discovery and bring us closer to solving problems once deemed impossible.

This reliable machine, available for order today and with deliveries starting by the end of next year, integrates quantum computing with AI models and computational tools in Azure. It is powered by Microsoft's qubit-virtualization system, a core innovation in the Azure Quantum compute platform that can extend resilient quantum computing to a wide variety of qubit types.

Accelerating innovation and discovery with the Azure Quantum compute platform

In September, Dr. Krysta Svore (Technical Fellow, Microsoft) and I spoke at Quantum World Congress (QWC) about how Microsoft is ushering in a new era of computing through our ongoing work with Quantinuum and Atom Computing. Our research teams brought qubit-virtualization capabilities to both ion-trap and neutral-atom hardware architectures, creating reliable logical qubits. We also demonstrated a proof-of-concept chemistry workflow combining quantum computation with HPC and AI.

We’ve reached significant technical milestones that demonstrate our commitment to advancing quantum technology with our Azure Quantum compute platform. Our teams designed this platform to provide reliable quantum computing across various hardware architectures, enabling advanced hybrid quantum-classical applications in a secure, unified, and scalable cloud environment. To understand the impact of our progress with Atom Computing, let's delve into the significant technical milestones we've accomplished together since this announcement.

We’ve now achieved the world’s largest logical entangled state on record, across all hardware architectures with 24 logical qubits. Fundamentally, logical qubit entanglement is the foundation for realizing the promise of quantum computing, as it is a critical measure for the overall performance of the system. Additionally, these logical qubits exhibit an error rate below that of the corresponding physical qubits. Combined with large numbers of neutral atom qubits and advanced qubit virtualization, this puts us in a unique position to scale reliable quantum computation.

We’ve now achieved the world’s largest logical entangled state on record, across all hardware architectures with 24 logical qubits.

Separately, our teams also demonstrated the ability to detect, correct, and reliably compute on 28 logical qubits using the same hardware. While entangling logical qubits is crucial for making quantum computing reliable, demonstrating computation on these logical qubits takes our progress a step further. We achieved this using our leading quantum error correction and qubit virtualization work, alongside Atom’s differentiated hardware platform.

Neutral atom hardware uses trapped neutral atoms as qubits to store and process quantum information with lasers, offering all-to-all connectivity, long coherence times, and strong fidelities. Furthermore, this type of hardware tightly packs many qubits together, setting the stage for extensive scalability of reliable quantum computation.

Atom Computing’s research team also demonstrated the best neutral-atom two-qubit gate fidelity in a commercial system. This achievement means we can unlock meaningful quantum error correction. You can read more about these results in the Azure Quantum technical blog.

Atom Computing’s research team also demonstrated the best neutral-atom two-qubit gate fidelity in a commercial system.

Together, these results from our teams provide a critical foundation to further scale logical qubit capabilities and accelerate our collective work to demonstrate scientific quantum advantage. I am optimistic about the future and the problems we can solve with this groundbreaking suite. Each announcement shows our progress in advancing innovation and accelerating scientific discovery.

Our collaboration with industry and quantum experts is not just about technological advancements; it's about creating real-world impact. Our vision for reliable quantum computation aims to empower customers with state-of-the-art tools and compress time-to-solution from years to days.

Qubit virtualization for reliable quantum computation

Today’s noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) machines have error-prone qubits, making them impractical for real-world applications. That’s why we have focused on reliable logical qubits by combining multiple physical qubits with efficient error correction capabilities to protect against noise (like putting noise cancelling headphones on qubits), which makes it possible to perform long running and meaningful calculations without interruptions. This last point is critical: we must be able to detect errors, correct them, and reliably compute with logical qubits, which we achieved with our state-of-the-art qubit-virtualization system across multiple partner hardware architectures.

In classical computing, errors are rare due to high reliability. Quantum computing with physical qubits, however, is like trying to have a deep, technical conversation in a noisy room. As quantum systems grow, so will the need for advanced error detection and correction. Higher quality qubits will allow us to scale and tackle meaningful problems, requiring better capabilities to store and compute while combating errors. With these advances in reliable quantum computation, we are now ready to bring these capabilities to our customers through a comprehensive commercial offering.

First commercial offering for reliable quantum computing

This commercial discovery suite provides dedicated access to a reliable, logical quantum system co-designed by Microsoft and Atom Computing. It combines the capabilities of this next generation quantum system with Microsoft’s purpose-built platform for science, Azure Elements. Today, partners and customers are already benefiting from our investments in HPC and AI to accelerate R&D. For instance, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory worked with the Azure Quantum team to screen 32 million candidates with AI models and found a novel battery material that could reduce lithium by as much as 70 percent.

This commercial discovery suite provides dedicated access to a reliable, logical quantum system co-designed by Microsoft and Atom Computing.

We need to put these hybrid quantum-classical technologies into the hands of global innovators, and we are aiming to do so with this comprehensive scientific discovery suite. With it, we will empower governments and organizations to pioneer and experiment with applications for the emerging hybrid computing era, where we can tackle scientifically and commercially relevant problems with the most advanced computational solutions.

For example, innovators can start designing and predicting properties of chemicals and materials, exploring molecular interactions, and simulating complex chemical reactions. AI co-reasoning will be integrated into every stage of the scientific method, helping innovators solve complex problems using both classical and quantum tools. Reliable quantum computing will enable AI to “learn quantum mechanics”, creating fast and accurate models. And lastly, this suite will help galvanize a quantum-ready ecosystem, providing the critical tools necessary for commercial adoption of these technologies that can help build quantum expertise and create new jobs and opportunities.

Your quantum journey

Investing in your quantum journey means partnering with us to solve critical business issues using the right tools and proven real-world applications. Our progress highlights the exciting new era of computing at the intersection of Quantum, AI, and cloud supercomputing.

We are excited to drive unprecedented transformation for our customers and the planet, whether through accelerating scientific discovery or preparing the ecosystem for this new computing era. Join us on this quantum journey by watching the Ignite keynote, exploring our latest advancements on the Azure Quantum blog and on the Atom Computing blog.

Register to join us in January for a webinar hosted by Quantum Insider and moderated by Brian Lenahan (Founder & Chair, Quantum Strategy Institute ), featuring Dr. Krysta Svore, Dr. Ben Bloom (Founder and CEO, Atom Computing), to learn how we’re enabling the next generation of quantum applications with reliable quantum computing.