Microsoft has announced the general availability of Microsoft Discovery, an Azure-based platform for deploying autonomous AI agent teams in scientific R&D workflows. The platform played a key role in developing Majorana 2, a topological quantum chip achieving 1,000x reliability improvement over its predecessor, with mean qubit lifetimes of 20 seconds. Discovery agents managed fabrication workflows, automated measurements, optimized materials stacks, and correlated patterns across nearly two decades of experimental data. The chip uses a lead superconductor instead of aluminum to shield qubits from cosmic disturbances, with operations executing in one microsecond. Microsoft now targets a scalable quantum computer by 2029, halving its original timeline. Early customers include Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Syensqo. A free desktop app preview is available for smaller research teams.
