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- Microsoft unveils Majorana 1, its first quantum processor after 17 years of research
Microsoft unveils Majorana 1, its first quantum processor after 17 years of research
Bay Area Times
February 20, 2025
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Top stories today:
- Microsoft unveils Majorana 1, its first quantum processor
- Apple unveils $599 iPhone 16e, with iPhone 14-like design, C1 modem
- Trump floats giving 20% DOGE savings to American citizens
- Google announces AI Co-Scientist multi-agent system for researchers
- Arc Institute, NVIDIA unveil Evo-2, largest AI model for genome writing
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Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):
1. Microsoft unveils Majorana 1, its first quantum processor after 17 years of research
Potentially fit 1 million qubits in a size not much bigger than desktop CPUs.
Uses a Majorana particle, discovered in 1937, instead of electrons.
Currently, only 8 topological qubits made from indium arsenide and aluminum.
DARPA has selected Microsoft as one of 2 companies for its Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program.
Industry rivals including Google and IBM, as well as smaller companies IonQ
and Rigetti Computing have built quantum processors earlier.
“We want to get to a few hundred qubits before we start talking about commercial reliability,” Microsoft executive vice president Jason Zander said.
“Next real thing is… let us go build that first fault-tolerant quantum computer,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said
7 years of data collected specifically from Bleeding Edge, 2020 multiplayer battle game.
Prototype software will be released for researchers in the future to develop gameplay with the model.
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3. Apple unveils $599 iPhone 16e, with iPhone 14-like design, in-house C1 modem
Feb. 28 availability, with pre-orders starting on Feb. 21.
Apple A18 chip with Apple Intelligence support.
48MP single rear camera.
6.1” display with a notch design.
C1 modem replaces Qualcomm chips.
iPhone SE, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus discontinued to make way for the iPhone 16e.
4. Trump floats giving 20% DOGE savings to American citizens, 20% to cut deficit
