Microsoft, Quantinuum Report 'Historic' Breakthrough in Quantum Computing Development

Microsoft, in partnership with Quantinuum, announced on Wednesday of making the first "historic" breakthrough in realizing advanced quantum computing machines.

The tech giant claimed that it has recorded the "most reliable logical qubits" performance made, at least 800 times more accurate than previous prototypes tested.

Qubits refer to the unit of information being processed by quantum computers at the same time.

Lower "quantum errors" and higher "fault tolerance" means the advanced computing machines are able to handle more problem processing without consuming much energy.

Microsoft Powers Hybrid Quantum Computer with AI Advancements

At its current phase, the quantum computer has already reached "Level 2 Resilient" quantum computing, enabling it to solve "meaningful problems" in research, science, and even society.

The company said it has used a collaborative application from its Azure Quantum hardware, AI systems, and "state-of-the-art hybrid technologies."

For now, Microsoft aims to reduce the quantum errors in its computing machines by up to at least a thousand times before considering moving the technology to become commercial.

Security Concerns Raised Over Microsoft's Quantum Computing Machines

Amid Microsoft's feat in quantum computing, concerns for more rampant cyberattacks are being raised as the promised technology inches closer to realization.

IBM earlier warned world leaders and tech companies that the advent of quantum computers put current cybersecurity systems at risk of being obsolete if hackers ever get their hands on the technology, a problem Microsoft has yet to provide a concrete solution to.

Microsoft was recently blasted by the US Department of Home Security for "inadequate" security measures against hackers that allowed state emails to be compromised last year.

The company also suffered a cyberattack just this year that resulted in hackers accessing the company's source code after stealing some of its executives' corporate emails.

State-sponsored threat actors have also been repeatedly reported as using Microsoft and OpenAI's, whose technology Microsoft uses for Azure, AI chatbots for their operations.

If Microsoft intends to release the hybrid quantum computing without much safety measures, more companies are at risk of further cyberattacks once the technology becomes compromised.