Amazon Executives Doubt Microsoft’s Quantum Computing Claims
Amazon executives are expressing significant skepticism regarding Microsoft’s recent claims of a major breakthrough in quantum computing. Internal communications obtained by Business Insider reveal a cautious, and at times, critical assessment of Microsoft’s announcements.
On February 19th, Microsoft unveiled a new quantum processor, the Majorana 1, claiming its architecture allows for storing more data and performing more complex calculations. However, Amazon’s head of quantum technologies, Simone Severini, quickly voiced his doubts. In an email to CEO Andy Jassy, Severini stated that Microsoft’s supporting scientific paper, published in Nature, “doesn’t actually demonstrate” the claimed achievement, suggesting it only indicates potential for future experiments.
Severini, in his email, also pointed out Microsoft’s history of retracted papers due to scientific misconduct in quantum computing. He wrote that some of the company’s earlier research had to be withdrawn. The email was also shared with other executives, including Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman and SVP James Hamilton.
“This seems to be a meaningful technical advancement, but it’s far different from the breakthrough being portrayed in the media coverage,” Severini wrote in the email. He added that there’s no clear performance benefit that stems from Microsoft’s use of “topological qubits.”
Internal Criticism Within Amazon
Internal Slack messages among Amazon executives displayed even more direct criticism of Microsoft’s announcements. Oskar Painter, Amazon’s head of quantum hardware, urged the company to “push back on BS statements,” likely directed at Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s social media post touting advances with the Majorana chip. Painter, also a professor at Caltech, expressed more favorable views regarding quantum-computing efforts by Google and IBM, but described Microsoft’s efforts as “next level (in BS and hype).”
One Amazon employee humorously remarked on receiving texts from friends asking if Microsoft’s quantum technology would “change the world,” while another poked fun at tech companies using grandiose statements to promote their quantum efforts. This person wrote, “Seems as if Google, IBM and Microsoft’s marketing teams are making faster progress than their hardware R&D teams” in Slack.
Industry Experts Weigh In
Industry experts, including Arka Majumdar, a computer engineering professor at the University of Washington, and Scott Aaronson, a quantum computing researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, also expressed skepticism. Majumdar told BI that Microsoft’s technological achievements are impressive but “insignificant” compared to what is needed to create a useful quantum computer. He added that Microsoft’s claims were “sensational” and “overhyped,” given that they have not reached a meaningful scale. Aaronson pointed out that Microsoft’s claim to have created a topological qubit “has not yet been accepted by peer review.”
The peer review file of Microsoft’s Nature report states that the “results in this manuscript do not represent evidence for the presence of Majorana zero modes in the reported devices,” and it states that the work focuses on introducing an architecture that “might enable fusion experiments using future Majorana zero modes.”
A Microsoft spokesperson responded to a request for comment by stating the Nature paper was published a year after its submission, and the company has made “tremendous progress” in the interim. The spokesperson also noted that the company plans to release additional data “in the coming weeks and months.” The spokesperson further stated, “Discourse and skepticism are all part of the scientific process.”
Differing Timelines
Amazon and Microsoft also have differing views on the timeline for practical quantum computing use. Microsoft’s spokesperson believes that “utility-scale quantum computers are just years away, not decades.” Amazon’s spokesperson anticipates a longer timeframe, expecting mainstream adoption to be roughly a couple of decades away.
Chris Ballance, CEO of quantum-computing startup Oxford Ionics, told BI that Amazon’s recent quantum chip announcement was equally vague, offering little in the way of substance. However, Ballance said that the recent wave of quantum news is a “good sign” for the industry, which is still “very early days.””, “image_alt_text”: “Simone Severini, Amazon’s head of quantum technologies
