Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 with 20-second qubit lifetimes

What happened

Microsoft unveiled Majorana 2, its second-generation topological processor, on 2 June 2026. It replaces Majorana 1's aluminium superconductor with lead, and Microsoft reports a mean qubit lifetime of 20 seconds, with some instances lasting a minute, against one to 12 milliseconds on Majorana 1, a gain it puts at more than 1,000 times; the technical paper describes a four-qubit array. Microsoft now targets a scalable quantum computer by 2029, half its original timeline. On 22 September 2026 it opened a 15,000 sq ft research centre in Maryland where DARPA has on-site access to Majorana 2 qubits for independent testing under its Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing programme. The lifetimes are Microsoft's own measurements of how long a qubit holds its state; the Q-Day estimates above turn on error-corrected logical operations at far larger scale.