According to Microsoft, the new battery material it discovered uses 70% less lithium than conventional lithium-ion batteries while offering greater energy efficiency and enhanced stability.
The Microsoft research team stated, “With conventional research methods, this level of development would have taken several years, but through AI and quantum computing technologies, we reduced the R&D period to just a few months.” They added, “By combining scientific expertise with AI, we believe we can compress 250 years of scientific innovation into just 25 years.”
Quantum computers are emerging as game changers in fields long considered humanity’s grand challenges—such as climate change, drug discovery, and space phenomena. Not only Microsoft, but also global tech giants like IBM and Google are actively pushing forward in quantum computing development.
IBM currently leads the quantum computing race. In December last year, it unveiled “Condor,” the world’s first general-purpose quantum computer with 1,000 qubits. IBM aims to develop a 4,000-qubit machine by 2025. Google, which released its 53-qubit quantum computer “Sycamore” in 2019, plans to develop a fault-tolerant quantum system by 2029.