Moore, a pioneer in modern technology transformation, has helped companies bring more powerful chips to smaller computers.
Gordon Moore, a microprocessor industry pioneer and co-founder of Intel, which was once the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, has died at the age of 94.
The Intel and Moore family charity said he died Friday surrounded by his family at his home in Hawaii.
Moore is a giant in the technological transition of modern times, helping companies bring ever more powerful chips to increasingly smaller computers. A trained engineer, he co-founded Intel in July 1968, eventually serving as president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board.
In an article he wrote in 1965, Moore remarked that, thanks to improvements in technology, the number of transistors on microchips has nearly doubled every year since integrated circuits were invented a few years ago.
His prediction that this trend would continue to be known as “Moore’s Law” and then revised to biennial, it helped spur Intel and rival chipmakers to aggressively target into their research and development resources to make sure that rule of thumb comes true.
“Integrated circuits will lead to miracles such as home computers – or at least terminals connected to central computers – automatic control of cars and mobile communication devices. personal,” wrote Moore in his article, two decades before the personal computer revolution and beyond. 40 years before Apple launched the iPhone.
Today, we have lost a visionary.
Gordon Moore, thanks for everything. pic.twitter.com/bAiBAtmd9K
– Intel (@intel) March 25, 2023
After Moore’s paper, chips became more efficient and cheaper at an exponential rate, helping to drive much of the world’s technological progress for half a century and enabling the advent of more than just computers. personality but also the Internet and Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Facebook, and Google.
“It was great to be in the right place at the right time,” Moore said in an interview circa 2005. “I was very fortunate to be involved in the semiconductor industry when it first started. And I had the opportunity to grow from a time when we couldn’t make a single silicon transistor to a time when we put 1.7 billion transistors in a chip! It was an extraordinary trip.”
In recent years, Intel rivals such as Nvidia Corp. have argued that Moore’s Law no longer holds as improvements in chip manufacturing have slowed.
But despite the manufacturing stumbles that have cost Intel market share in recent years, current CEO Pat Gelsinger said he believes Moore’s Law still holds true as the company invests billions of dollars in the effort. force turning the situation.
Heritage that changed the world
Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, said Moore has been a great and respected friend for more than 60 years.
“When Gordon left, nearly all of my first-generation semiconductor colleagues were gone,” Chang said in a statement released via TSMC.
During his lifetime, Moore has donated more than $5.1 billion to charities through a foundation he founded with his wife of 72 years, Betty.
Harvey Fineberg, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, said: “Although he never aspired to be a household name, Gordon’s vision and his lifelong work created a transformation. extraordinary new and technological developments that shape our daily lives.
Intel leaders pay their respects to Moore.
“He is credited with revealing the power of the transistor and inspiring technologists and entrepreneurs for decades,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.
“He left a legacy that changed the lives of everyone on this planet. His memory will live forever,” Gelsinger added on Twitter.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a tweet that Moore’s vision “inspired so many of us to pursue technology,” while Apple CEO Tim Cook called him “one of the best.” the founding fathers of Silicon Valley”.
Cook wrote on Twitter: “All of us followers owe him a big thank you. “You can rest in peace.”
