Microsoft has introduced Majorana 1, a quantum chip with a "Topological Core" architecture, potentially enabling powerful quantum computers within years instead of decades. The breakthrough stems from a newly developed material called a topoconductor,

Microsoft started going down this road nearly 20 years ago, and that research has now yielded what looks like a significant quantum-computing breakthrough. The Majorana 1 chip contains eight qubits, or quantum bits, far fewer than top-tier quantum computers currently in operation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Amazon on Thursday unveiled its first quantum computing chip, about a week after rival Microsoft announced its first chip devoted to the nascent technology.The new chip, called Ocelot, can cut the “costs of implementing quantum error correction by up to 90%,