Microsoft's New Superconductor Aims to Power AI and Silence Skeptics

In a paper published in Nature, Microsoft has unveiled a new type of topological superconductor. Built from indium arsenide and aluminum, the material can carry electricity without resistance. While this holds promise for the company's long-term quantum computing ambitions, Microsoft is making a bold, parallel claim: this same breakthrough could help solve the massive energy demands of artificial intelligence.

The timing is significant. Global data center electricity use, driven by AI, is projected to double by 2026. Tech giants are scrambling for power, with Microsoft even striking a deal to restart part of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Against this backdrop, a material that eliminates energy loss in transmission isn't just an incremental gain—it could reduce the total power needed to run the world's computation.

Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft technical fellow, told TechRepublic the superconductor's properties make it suitable for power cables and grid components. Current infrastructure loses significant electricity during transport and conversion. Even a few percentage points of efficiency, scaled globally, would mean billions in savings and lower carbon emissions—a key point as Microsoft faces scrutiny over its 2030 carbon-negative pledge amid soaring AI energy use.

The science itself is a milestone. Microsoft reports the first definitive observation of exotic quantum particles called non-Abelian anyons, a pursuit two decades in the making. This 'topological' protection makes the material inherently more stable, which is why it's sought for quantum computing. But that stability also suggests potential for more practical power infrastructure.

However, the path from lab to commercial grid is long and fraught. Existing superconductors require complex, expensive cooling systems. Microsoft has not provided a timeline for power grid deployment, and independent verification of its claims is essential, given past retractions in this field. The company's immediate focus remains on quantum computing. Yet by explicitly linking this advanced physics to the urgent problem of AI's power hunger, Microsoft signals that the search for answers is moving far beyond software tweaks and into the fundamental materials that carry our electricity.