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 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 and UC Santa Barbara researchers have unveiled an eight-qubit topological quantum processor, marking a major step toward building a fully functional topological quantum computer. Their innovation lies in a new state of matter,