Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily cloud news and commentary show. Each episode provides insights and perspectives around the “reimagination machine” that is the cloud.
In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I cover big developments from Microsoft Ignite 2024 beyond copilots and agents.
Highlights
00:02 — Today I want to give you some updates from Microsoft Ignite 2024. Now, as you may imagine, much of the discussion this year has been around Copilot, AI, and, of course, security. However, there were other topics, including quantum computing and Microsoft’s ongoing mission to develop a fault-tolerant quantum computing system.
00:32 — Well, it seems some serious headway has been made, with Microsoft announcing that, in collaboration with Atom Computing, the two organizations have created and entangled 24 logical qubits made from neutral atoms—the highest number ever recorded.
01:20 — Microsoft will also be launching a commercial quantum computer by the close of 2025. Other companies, namely IBM, have certainly made more noise and jumped ahead in terms of commercialization. However, where Microsoft could shine here is in convergence, combining these quantum discoveries with existing AI research and live products.
More analysis from Microsoft Ignite:
- Microsoft Drives Agents, Copilots Deeper Into Core Systems
- Can Latest Security Initiatives Get Microsoft Past Recent Blunders?
- Microsoft AI Agents for Dynamics 365 Span Finance, Supply Chains, and Customer Service
- Microsoft Ignite Highlights With Volt Technologies’ Mason Whitaker
AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.
