Microsoft Quantum

Microsoft's quantum programme pursues topological qubits, which would store information in unusual states called Majorana zero modes inside tiny superconductor-semiconductor wires; in theory such qubits resist errors by design. Whether its devices actually host these states is disputed by many outside physicists. Separately, Microsoft supplies error-correction software and cloud access (Azure Quantum) to run on other companies' hardware, and is co-building a neutral-atom machine with Atom Computing. It has no topological quantum computer available to customers.

division of Microsoft (a publicly listed company) · Based in United States · Facts checked 27 October 2026

Where it ranks this month

Best place in each race, from QubitBenchmark release 2026-11.1.

All rankings →

Most accurate–No ranked result Error-corrected qubits–No ranked result Most qubits–No ranked result Fastest–No ranked result Use it today–No ranked result

Machines

Machine	Physical qubits	Introduced	How to use it
Majorana 1 (topological core prototype chip)	8	2025	not publicly available
Majorana 2 (lead-based topological prototype)	–	2026	not publicly available (a Majorana 2-based system is provided to DARPA for on-site evaluation in Maryland)
Magne (with Atom Computing; 50 logical qubits planned)	1200	2025	on-premises for QuNorth in Copenhagen; announced, not yet operational (target early 2027)

Qubit counts as the company reports them. Our rankings use QubitBenchmark's checked results instead.

Promised vs delivered

What Microsoft Quantum has said it would build, and what happened.

All roadmaps →

Milestone	Target	Status	Why we say so
Milestone 1: create and control Majoranas	No date given	Unclear	Microsoft's roadmap page marks it achieved (research published May 2023 in an APS journal), but the topological gap protocol behind it was challenged in a peer-reviewed Nature comment in June 2026. Source
Milestone 2: hardware-protected (topological) qubit	No date given	Unclear	Microsoft says it is achieving this with Majorana 1 and 2, but Nature's editors stated the February 2025 paper is not evidence of Majorana zero modes, and Majorana 2 data cover parity lifetime in one wire only. Source
Commercial Atom Computing + Microsoft logical-qubit machine delivered	2025	Slipped	Offered in November 2024 'with delivery in 2025'; the first such machine (Magne) is now slated for operation by early 2027. Source
Magne: 50-logical-qubit Level 2 machine operational in Copenhagen	around the turn of 2026/27 (July 2025); early 2027 (September 2026)	On track (company says)	Microsoft's 22 September 2026 blog still says Magne is slated for operation by early 2027; no evidence yet that it is running. Source
Fault-tolerant topological prototype (DARPA US2QC)	'in years, not decades'	In progress	Microsoft is in DARPA's final stage and has provided a Majorana 2-based system for DARPA evaluation (September 2026); no prototype date given. Source
Scalable quantum computer	2029	Unclear	Announced with Majorana 2, which Microsoft says 'cut our timeline in half'; it rests on qubits whose topological nature is still disputed. Source

Recent claims, and how far the evidence has got

Disputed Majorana 1: first chip with a 'topological core' (eight topological qubits) built on a new 'topoconductor', with a path to a million qubits on one chip Source
Preprint Majorana 2: lead-based stack gives about 20-second parity lifetimes (sometimes minutes), which Microsoft calls 1,000x more reliable, and brings a scalable machine forward to 2029 Source
Announced With Atom Computing, 24 entangled logical qubits and 28 logical qubits running a computation (from 112 physical qubits for the 28-qubit run) Source

In other organisations' rankings

Where Microsoft Quantum appears in other published rankings and lists. They don't change ours.

All of them →

Four more teams enter Quantum Benchmarking Initiative final stage (QBI Stage C), DARPA (US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) (2026-10-07). An authoritative government selection, but it assesses plans and their feasibility, not measured performance, and the October 2026 announcement says nothing about the other seven Stage B companies.
The Quantum Index Report 2026: Quantum Processor Benchmarking (chapter 10), MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (with Accenture) (2026-10). Broad and well-sourced overview, but it compiles vendor-reported numbers rather than measuring them, and it says no independently verified universal metric exists.
The Quantum Index Report 2026, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (MIT Sloan), in collaboration with Accenture (2026-10). Transparent, sourced and openly licensed data, but it measures activity (patents, funding, press releases) rather than how well the machines perform.
Comparative Analysis of Contemporary Quantum Computer Processors: Architectures, Performance, and Perspectives, IEEE Access (authors: M. Vukšić, J. Ćelić, A. Cuculić, University of Rijeka) (2026-03-05). Peer-reviewed, but the paper itself says Table 1 is 'a high-level comparative snapshot rather than a definitive ranking'. Its data is already dated, and some milestone dates should be checked against primary sources.
CB Insights ESP matrices: Quantum computer makers (neutral atoms, photonics, silicon qubit, superconducting circuits, trapped ions), CB Insights (2026). Based on market and business signals, not machine performance. Vendors can brief CB Insights, and most placements are hidden behind a subscription.
Quantum Benchmarking Initiative: Stage B Selection, DARPA (US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) (2025-11-06). An official list of who advanced, not a ranking; it partly rests on plans and roadmaps, and Stage C has since narrowed it (see darpa-qbi-stage-c-2026).

Sources

Microsoft's Majorana 1 chip carves new path for quantum computing, Microsoft, 19 February 2025
Peer Review File: Interferometric single-shot parity measurement in InAs-Al hybrid devices, Nature (Springer Nature), 19 February 2025
Microsoft Claims Quantum-Computing Breakthrough, but Some Physicists Are Skeptical, Scientific American (from Nature), 20 February 2025
Microsoft quantum breakthrough claims labeled 'unreliable' and 'essentially fraudulent', The Register, 12 March 2025
Physicists are mostly unconvinced by Microsoft's new topological quantum chip, Science News, 27 March 2025
Microsoft's Majorana-1 Chip Demonstrates X and Z Loop Parity Measurements, Post-Quantum, 12 July 2025
Critique published by Nature challenges Microsoft's quantum computing claims, University of St Andrews, 24 June 2026
Microsoft's Topological Quantum Computing Claims Once Again In Question, Hackaday, 30 June 2026
Majorana 2: Microsoft's scalable quantum processor, Microsoft Quantum, 2 June 2026
20 Second Parity Lifetime in an InAs--Pb Tetron Device (arXiv:2606.03884), arXiv, 2 June 2026
Microsoft Majorana 2 analysis, Post-Quantum, 3 June 2026
Microsoft quantum research center, Maryland, Microsoft Quantum, 22 September 2026
Quantum roadmap, Microsoft Quantum
Microsoft Quantum home page, Microsoft
Microsoft and Atom Computing offer a commercial quantum machine with the largest number of entangled logical qubits on record, Microsoft Azure Quantum Blog, 19 November 2024
Microsoft announces the best performing logical qubits on record and will provide priority access to reliable quantum hardware in Azure Quantum, Official Microsoft Blog, 10 September 2024
New quantum computer with great potential to boost Nordic research and innovation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, 17 July 2025
Next-Level Quantum Computers Will Almost Be Useful, IEEE Spectrum, 23 December 2025
Four more teams enter Quantum Benchmarking Initiative final stage, DARPA, 7 October 2026
DARPA quantum benchmarking Stage C, Post-Quantum, 8 October 2026
List of quantum computing providers on Azure Quantum, Microsoft Learn, 23 April 2026
Microsoft's Quantum Mechanics, MIT Technology Review, 10 October 2014