IBM unveils world's first nanometer chip in AI computing push
IBM has officially moved past the nanometer era with a new 0.7 nm chip architecture
IBM has officially unveiled the world's first smallest chip scaled as 0.7nm "nanostack", a 3D architecture packing 100 billion transistors to slash AI power consumption by 70%.
International Business Machines Corporation IBM on Thursday unveiled what it said was the world's first technology capable of producing chips smaller than one nanometer, as tech companies race to build semiconductors that can handle increasingly demanding AI workloads.
Shares of the Armonk, New York-based company rose over 6% in premarket trading. They have fallen about 11% so far this year.
The "Big Blue" announcement comes at a time when chipmakers are searching for ways to maintain the decades-long trend of cramming more computing power into smaller spaces, a phenomenon known as Moore's Law.
Last week, Intel said the new generation of its 18A manufacturing process, which makes 1.8 nanometer chips, moved into risk production, the testing phase before commercial manufacturing.
Additionally, the new chip technology, which bolsters IBM's position to compete with contract chipmakers TSMC, and Intel, has a transistor architecture of 0.7 nanometers, or 7 angstroms.
IBM said the 0.7-nanometer chip packs nearly 100 billion transistors onto a fingernail-sized surface, about twice the density of its 2-nanometer chip unveiled in 2021, delivering up to 50% higher performance or 70% greater energy efficiency.
The latest announcement defines that IBM remains a heavyweight in high-end semiconductor R&D, even as companies like Nvidia and Intel dominate the current commercial market. It frames IBM as the "architect" of the next decade of computing.
