Microsoft Building a Quantum Computer by 2026

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Michael Freedman, Director of Station Q at Microsoft is speaking on "Building a Majorana quantum computer". The mathematics of how the quantum computer Professor Freedman is building would work is beyond me. However, two points were of interest: the quantum computer will not just be able to perform computations faster, it will be able to perform so many more it will be able to solve problems we did not previously consider. The other is that he believes that it will be possible to use the same type of production process now used for microchips to make quantum chips. This requires many advances in production techniques, but in essence involves putting s silicon wafer into a chamber and exposing it to chemical processes, then chopping up the wafer to make hundreds of chips. He expects Microsoft will build a quantum computer within a decade.