It is the latest development in quantum computing – tech which uses principles of particle physics to create a new type of computer able to solve problems ordinary computers cannot.

Creating quantum computers powerful enough to solve important real-world problems is very challenging – and some experts believe them to be decades away.

Microsoft says this timetable can now be sped up because of the “transformative” progress it has made in developing the new chip involving a “topological conductor”, based on a new material it has produced.

The firm believes its topoconductor has the potential to be as revolutionary as the semiconductor was in the history of computing.

But experts have told the BBC more data is needed before the significance of the new research – and its effect on quantum computing – can be fully assessed.

Jensen Huang – boss of the leading chip firm, Nvidia – said in January he believed “very useful” quantum computing would come in 20 years.

Chetan Nayak, a technical fellow of quantum hardware at Microsoft, said he believed the developments would shake up conventional thinking about the future of quantum computers.

“Many people have said that quantum computing, that is to say useful quantum computers, are decades away,” he said. “I think that this brings us into years rather than decades.”

Travis Humble, director of the Quantum Science Center of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, said he agreed Microsoft would now be able to deliver prototypes faster – but warned there remained work to do.

“The long term goals for solving industrial applications on quantum computers will require scaling up these prototypes even further,” he said.

There are numerous important problems that “classical” computers, of the sort we use every day in our phones, and laptops and power most modern applications, cannot solve.

But these are problems quantum machines might be able to rapidly crack, promising new discoveries by creating new medicines or designing better batteries.

A host of technology firms, including the silicon valley giants, are currently engaged in a multi-billion dollar race to develop a quantum computer powerful enough to solve these problems.

Microsoft is approaching the problem differently to most of its rivals.

Its path to building a quantum computer relied upon being able to create a “topoconductor” or topological conductor.

It uses the newly developed material to create a new state of matter- a so-called “topological state” which isn’t a gas, liquid or solid and, until relatively recently, had existed only in theory.

Specifically, it relies on so-called Majorana particles, which themselves were previously considered theoretical – work claiming that they had been discovered in 2018 had to be retracted.

While rivals produced a steady stream of announcements – notably Google’s “Willow” at the end of 2024 – Microsoft seemed to be taking longer.

Pursuing this approach was, in the company’s own words, a “high-risk, high-rewards” strategy, but one it now believes is going to pay off.

“In the same way that the invention of semiconductors made today’s smartphones, computers and electronics possible, topoconductors and the new type of chip they enable offer a path to developing quantum system,” Microsoft said.

The biggest challenge of quantum computers relates to their fundamental building block, called a qubit, which is incredibly fast but also extremely difficult to control and prone to errors.

The more qubits a chip has the more capable it is.

Microsoft says it has put eight of its new topological qubits on its new chip – considerably less than the chips created by some of its rivals.

However, it claims to have a path to scaling it up to a million qubits – which would create immense computing power.

Professor Paul Stevenson of Surrey University said the research published by Microsoft was a “significant step”, but he felt it had tough challenges ahead.

“Until the next steps have been achieved, it is too soon to be anything more than cautiously optimistic,” he said.

Chris Heunen, Professor of Quantum Programming at the University of Edinburgh, told the BBC he felt Microsoft’s plans were “credible”.

“This is promising progress after more than a decade of challenges, and the next few years will see whether this exciting roadmap pans out,” he said.

When asked by reporters whether the US tech giant was preparing a bid, Trump replied: “I would say yes” – before adding that there was “great interest in TikTok” from several companies.

Both Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have been trying for years to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US operations on national security grounds.

It comes as Trump signed an executive order last week to delay a Biden Administration ban on TikTok that briefly took the app offline for its 170m users in the United States.

Despite granting TikTok a 75-day reprieve from the ban, Trump had been the first president to start pressuring ByteDance to sell its app.

In August 2020, ByteDance approached Microsoft as a possible buyer – something which the US company’s chief executive later described as “the strangest thing”.

Later, TikTok chose rival Oracle as a potential partner – although that deal also never happened.

Trump has previously said that he was in discussions with several parties about purchasing TikTok and expects to make a decision on the app’s future within the next 30 days.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said the company had “nothing to share at this time”. The BBC has also reached out to TikTok for comment.

Earlier on Monday, the US president had addressed a gathering of Republican politicians in Florida and spoke about the proposed sale of TikTok.

“We’ll see what happens. We’re going to have a lot of people bidding on it,” he said.

“If we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won’t be involved, we don’t want China involved, but we’ll see what happens,” he added.

Previous names linked with buying TikTok include billionaire Frank McCourt and the Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary – a celebrity investor on Shark Tank, the US version of Dragon’s Den.

The biggest YouTuber in the world Jimmy Donaldson – AKA MrBeast – has also claimed he is in the running after a number of investors contacted him following an earlier tweet signalling his interest.

Regulation expert Dr Maria Luisa Stasi is alleging the tech giant overcharged companies for its Window Server software, used in cloud computing.

She is seeking compensation of over £1bn on behalf of UK businesses.

The case has been brought on an “opt-out” basis – meaning UK organisations are all being represented to begin with unless they wish not to be.

And it is the latest class action lawsuit to be filed at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal against big tech firms, with Facebook, Google, and mobile phone firms amongst those facing action in other claims.

These types of claims are relatively new still, having been introduced in the UK in 2015, so there is little precedence to indicate how likely it is to be successful – but it will probably be years from now before there is an outcome.

It comes as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority investigates the cloud computing industry in the UK.

Broadly, cloud computing refers to data stored online, which can be accessed anywhere at any time.

It is a key part of how the modern world works, with cloud uses varying from storing vast amounts of data to streaming videos and music.

Cloud computing is also now a critical part of how many businesses operate.

Typically, this means either using Microsoft’s Azure platform or entering into agreements with alternative providers like Amazon and Google – who then may licence software from Microsoft.

This licensing element is what has caused controversy, with Google telling the CMA in June: “We believe Microsoft’s licensing practices both raise rivals’ costs and weaken rivals’ ability to compete for a significant proportion of customer demand.

“Microsoft has strongly denied this, opening its response to the investigation in July by stating that its licensing terms “do not meaningfully raise cloud rivals’ costs”.

The legal action filed today claims that “many thousands” of UK businesses may have been affected.

It alleges that small firms “are hit particularly hard”, pointing to figures from the Office for National Statistics which indicate more businesses closed down than started up in 2022.

“Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organisations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server,” said Ms Stasi.

“By doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector.

“This lawsuit aims to challenge Microsoft’s anti-competitive behaviour, push them to reveal exactly how much businesses in the UK have been illegally penalised, and return the money to organisations that have been unfairly overcharged.”