17 the experience for every form factor; and extensibility, so that multiple agents can be brought together in a coherent experience. Microsoft is working with chipmakers Qualcomm and MediaTek on initial concept designs, respectively a wearable employee badge and a desk companion. “Microsoft’s Project Solara is an important step in advancing agent-first experiences across a wide range of devices and form factors,” said Dino Bekis, senior vice president for personal and wearable AI at Qualcomm. Both devices are being designed with the aim of helping employees better manage workflows. The wearable badge has an integrated camera to help the agents understand the environment they are in and deliver informed insights, while the desk companion enables Bluetooth connectivity with PCs so users can hand off tasks. “Together, the badge and desk concept devices show what becomes possible when agents are no longer confined to one app, one screen or one device,” said Bathiche. “They show how agent-first experiences can move across stationary, portable and wearable forms – adapting to the user, the context and the work.” Microsoft employees are already using the concept devices, and Microsoft will be piloting its agentfirst ecosystem with enterprises including AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi’s and Target. It will enable OEMs and product makers to develop specialised solutions for specific scenarios and environments in different industries. “Agent builders will be able to reach more people in more places, using the adaptability of the Project Solara platform to bring their agents into the workflows, environments and moments where they can create the most value,” said Bathiche. Photo: Microsoft Microsoft debuts new quantum computing chip Microsoft unveiled a new quantum chip, Majorana 2, at Build 2026. The chip features a next-generation stack and paves the way to creating a scalable quantum computer by 2029. Microsoft’s quantum team is overcoming key barriers in reliability, speed and size that have limited the application of quantum computing for real-life scenarios. The new chip’s qubits can maintain their quantum state 1,000 times longer than the first generation, with a mean qubit lifetime, previously measured in milliseconds, now around 20 seconds, with some lasting up to one minute. “We need to make improvements each year that will get us closer to delivering a computer that we believe will have massive commercial and societal value,” said Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow. “We’ve got to keep marching to that roadmap to accomplish that, but where are we relative to last year? We’re 1,000 times better.” The new chip was developed with the help of the Microsoft Discovery agentic AI platform, which is now generally available and can help scientists and organisations accelerate research and development. “In the year since we’ve launched, we’ve seen customers light up use cases across critical industries like life sciences, chemicals and materials, energy, manufacturing and consumer goods,” said Aseem Datar, corporate vice president and product innovation for Microsoft Discovery. Photo: John Brecher/Microsoft
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