Microsoft announced their first ever quantum chip! But did people believe it?

“What would the world look like with a computer that can accurately model the laws of nature?”

Well, I certainly don’t know. But I do know what over 10,000 comments had to say about Microsoft’s promises in the announcement of their new quantum chip, Majorana 1.

Just to be clear: the advent of quantum computers has the potential to revolutionize the world as we know it. They could unlock groundbreaking advancements in medicine, artificial intelligence, climate modeling, financial forecasting and much more.

Sentiment analysis of the Majorana 1 announcement videos

Yet, the reception to Microsoft’s two official videos (Introducing Majorana 1 and Majorana 1 Explained: The Path to a Million Qubits) was largely neutral (63.6%), with most viewers leaning toward skepticism (12%). This might be a reflection of today's general distrust in grand product announcements.

But surely, you’d expect people to be at least excited about the prospect of curing cancer or advancing space exploration, right? Well, guess again...

Overall topics on Majorana 1 announcement videos

Discussions about the chip's potential in gaming and confusion over its name actually outnumbered expressions of hope for technological breakthroughs.

The name Majorana pays tribute to the Italian theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana, known for his work on the elusive Majorana particle.

As a ‘90s kid, I naively assumed the name would spark jokes about The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. But I was wrong again…

Key topics highlighted on "Majorana Particle" subject

Among all comments related to "Majorana particles", 22.1% actually confused the name with a plant famous for its relaxing properties. At least enthusiasm for quantum computing wasn't too far behind, making up 20.5% of the discussion.

We live in exciting times, with what feels like a major breakthrough just around the corner. But on the other hand, that excitement is often dampened by skepticism -- after all, many past promises of technological revolutions never quite materialized.

One thing I can promise you, though: with AltaVox, you can analyze thousands of comments across the most popular social media platforms, extracting precise and insightful sentiment analysis to make sense of all the online noise.

Want to see our tool in action? Just reach out to contact@altavox.ai and book a demo!