What is Moore’s Law?

In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that the number of transistors on integrated circuits had been doubling about every year and predicted this would continue. He later revised the pace to about every two years. For decades, the semiconductor industry largely kept up, and this doubling drove the explosive growth of personal computers, smartphones and the internet. Modern chips contain billions of transistors. However, as transistors approach atomic scales, physical limits like heat, quantum effects and manufacturing costs are slowing progress. Engineers are exploring new approaches such as 3D chip stacking, new materials and specialised processors to continue performance gains.