The processor uses qubits that can be measured without error and are resistant to outside interference, which the company says marks a “transformative leap toward practical quantum computing.”

Microsoft has announced a significant breakthrough in quantum computing: the creation of the first "topological qubits." Unlike conventional quantum bits, these qubits store information using an exotic state of matter.

There isn't yet a roadmap to show Microsoft can scale its chip to the million topological qubits required to make a working quantum computer.