Microsoft has never been a company short of ambitions, particularly in the field of growing technology. Today, the company has released a feature blog post showing their next goal to tackle: quantum computing. It’s not a new goal, but one that has been picking up steam behind the scenes for Microsoft.
“I think we’re at an inflection point in which we are ready to go from research to engineering,” said Todd Holmdahl, who is corporate vice president of Microsoft’s quantum program.
Quantum computing teams have been working diligently to understand and analyze how best to approach the lofty task. Now the Redmond giant has hired some brilliant minds to their payroll.
After a long time of collaborating with Microsoft teams, Charles Marcus and Leo Kouwenhoven will be officially joining under the company’s brand to build quantum labs at their respective universities. Similarly, they’ve also added two more professors to their list of collaborators: Matthias Troyer of computational physics in Switzerland and David Reilly, an experimental physicist from Australia.
According to the post, Microsoft isn’t just interested in one qubit (a unit of quantum information) that works perfectly but instead wants to create tools that scientists without quantum computing knowledge can use. But it’s not an easy task. Quantum systems can only run in cold environments but the topological qubit designs are tougher than its predecessors. Furthermore, Microsoft wants to build a software that is optimized for a quantum system.
The results of building accessible quantum computing would be a game changer for many major industries. Furthermore, it would usher in what Microsoft is calling a ‘quantum economy’ that will encourage other scientists to improve healthcare and technology.
But as stated by their feature, there is no true way to know how more accessible quantum computing will change the world in full force. But Microsoft seems willing to break through that horizon to see what will be for the next tomorrow.
