Microsoft expands Danish quantum facility with second lab

By Supantha Mukherjee

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Microsoft on Wednesday said it is expanding its quantum facility just outside the Danish capital Copenhagen, by building its second lab in the Nordic country and its largest quantum site globally.

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionise industries by solving problems that are practically impossible for today's computers. Its ability to process vast amounts of data simultaneously could unlock discoveries in medicine and chemistry and transform fields from finance to climate modelling.

The facility in Lyngby will help in the development of its Majorana 1 chip, which relies on a subatomic particle that makes it less prone to the errors that have made quantum computing not yet practical.

Based on the principles of quantum mechanics to process information with qubits, which can hold multiple states at once instead of 0 or 1 for classical bits, quantum computing can solve highly complex problems with incredible speed but it is extremely difficult to control and prone to errors.

Microsoft said its total quantum investments in Denmark have now surpassed 1 billion Danish crowns ($156.18 million).

"With this expansion of the Lyngby lab, we are converting deep physics into manufacturable technology, while reinforcing our commitment to Denmark and to Europe, advancing transatlantic collaboration," Jason Zander, Microsoft's executive vice president, said in a statement.

In July, Microsoft partnered with the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Denmark's state-owned credit fund EIFO to invest in what they say will be the world's most powerful quantum computer, Magne.

The old and the new lab are located in two separate buildings, about 25 to 50 meters apart, but will form a single quantum site, a Microsoft spokesperson said.

($1 = 6.4029 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Copenhagen, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Louise Heavens)