Microsoft Gives DARPA Access to Majorana System, Opens Maryland Quantum Research Center

Microsoft opened a 15,000-square-foot quantum research center at the University of Maryland that will support hardware research, partner integration, workforce training and government collaboration. The center will give DARPA on-site access to Microsoft’s latest topological quantum system, including qubits built on its Majorana 2 chip, for independent testing under the agency’s utility-scale quantum program. Microsoft is also launching a quantum hardware makerspace, annual measurement-based computing workshops and UMD postdoctoral funding, with partners including AMD, Intel, IQM, Fermilab, Riverlane and Quantum Motion. Microsoft has opened a quantum research center in Maryland that will house one of its topological quantum systems for independent testing by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, widening the…