Microsoft’s new “topological qubit” is not based on a solid, liquid or gas. It is another phase of matter that many experts did not think was possible.

The processor uses qubits that can be measured without error and are resistant to outside interference, which the company says marks a “transformative leap toward practical quantum computing.”

There isn't yet a roadmap to show Microsoft can scale its chip to the million topological qubits required to make a working quantum computer.