the world’s first commercial microprocessor

The microprocessor turns 50 today Intel 4004, an industry milestone, the first commercially available microprocessor that spawned today’s technological discoveries and feats.

Since November 1971, Intel’s 4004 microprocessor assisted in the creation of microprocessors for desktop calculators and edge computing.

Intel created microprocessors in 1969 due to a request from the Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation. NCMC needed a set of integrated circuits for a prototype calculator for the company, the Busicom 141-PF. Intel engineer Federico Faggin, along with Stan Mazor, Marcian E. Hoff, designed a custom 12-chip set, and from there, created a four-chip set, including the Intel 4004 CPU, that met computing needs. from Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the 4004 chip. Think of all that we have accomplished in this half century. This is a sacred time for technology. This chip is what made computing what it is today! Said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.

The Intel 4004 is the same size as an average human fingernail, and it proved that it could provide the same power as a computer that was, at one point, the size of a room. The Intel 4004 helped pave the way for a new design methodology, which shaped several generations of microprocessors from the very beginning, before transforming into their current state, as we see them in today’s devices.

Currently, microprocessors allow combining computing with connectivity, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

The current recently released Intel 12th Gen processors offer a hybrid architecture, with superior performance and advanced technology that owes much to the Intel 4004 microprocessor.

Intel’s latest idea will help advance future generations, assisting in neuromorphic computing with the Intel Loihi 2 chip and in the field of quantum computing with Intel’s Horse Ridge II option.

Intel continues to challenge itself to minimize size and maximize performance, all thanks to the Intel 4004 microprocessor.