The dream of quantum computing is closer than ever | The Excerpt

On a special episode (first released on April 9, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: Microsoft says it has created a new state of matter to power quantum computers - one that’s neither liquid, solid nor gas. It’s the latest major announcement in the race to achieve a new level of computing power, one that’s exponentially faster by several magnitudes than traditional computers. This historic achievement will transform the development of new drug treatments, data encryption and artificial intelligence. How is Microsoft advancing the science of quantum computing? Chetan Nayak, a technical fellow in quantum hardware at Microsoft and co-author of the study that first presented Microsoft’s research in the scientific journal Nature, joins The Excerpt to talk about both the science and the progress.