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Comment by tmvphil

3 days ago

I work in the field. While all players are selling a dream right now, this announcement is even more farcical. Majoranas are still trying to get to the point where they have even one qubit that could be said to exist and whose performance can be quantified.

The majorana approach (compared with more mature technologies like superconducting circuits or trapped ions) is a long game, where there are theoretical reasons to be optimistic, but where experimental reality is so far behind. It might work in the long run, but we're not there yet.

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tmvphil

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spr-alex  3 days ago

Given that Microsoft has been a heavy research collaborator ( Atom and Quantinuum), is there a possibility that the cross pollination would make it harder to deliver a farcical majorana chip since microsoft isn't all in on their home rolled hardware choice?

I've held the same view that this stuff was sketchy because of the previous mistakes in recent history but I do not work in the field

hdjjhhvvhga  3 days ago

>> I need HN's classic pessimism to know if this is something to be excited about. Please chime in!

> While all players are selling a dream right now, this announcement is even more farcical.

Thanks a lot, I didn't get disappointed.

  • kjellsbells  3 days ago

    Another take, to feed your cynicism: MSFT need money to keep investing in this sort of science. By posting announcements like this they hope to become the obvious place for investors interested in quantum to park their money. Stock price goes brrr, MSFT wins.

    More cynical still: what exactly has the Strategic Missions and Technologies unit achieved in the last few years? Burned a few billion on Azure for Operators, and sold it off. Got entangled and ultimately lost the JEDI mega deal at the DoD. Was notably not the unit that developed or brought in AI to Microsoft. Doing anything in quantum is good news for whoever leads this division, and they need it.

    On the bright side, this is still fundamentally something to be celebrated. Years ago major corporations did basic science research and we are all better off for those folk. With the uncertainty around the future of science funding in the US right now, I at least draw some comfort in the fact that its still happening. My jaded-ness about press releases in no way diminishes my respect for the science that the lab people are publishing.

    • cubefox  3 days ago

      > MSFT need money to keep investing in this sort of science

      Microsoft is making absurd amounts of money from Azure and Office (Microsoft 365) subscriptions. Any quantum computing investment is a drop in the bucket for this company.