Over the last few months, small-cap stocks such as Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, and IonQ have burst onto the scene in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). Each claims to be making groundbreaking progress in a hot new field known as quantum computing.

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.