With the development, Microsoft is raising the stakes in what is set to be the next big technological contest.

D-Wave, Rigetti, and Quantum Computing Inc. are enjoying yet another market boost in the wake of a major announcement from tech giant Microsoft. The stock prices of quantum computing companies are surging in premarket trading this morning after Microsoft unveiled a new type of quantum computing chip yesterday,

Its Majorana 1 chip, made of a new material, can perform high-level computing tasks with greater speed and accuracy, Microsoft says.