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.”

Microsoft says it has developed a breakthrough quantum processor based on a new state of matter, giving it a clear path to achieve quantum computing’s long-term promise of solving some of the world’s most difficult problems.

The tech giant joins Google and IBM in predicting that a fundamental change in computing technology is much closer than recently believed. Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a new chip that it said showed quantum computing is “years,