Intel celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the world's first commercial microprocessor, the Intel® 4004, and announced that the recently unveiled 12th generation Intel® Core® processor, which succeeds the Intel® 4004, will open a new era of computing.

Intel announced on the 15th that it celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Intel® 4004, the world's first commercial microprocessor.

Introduced in 1971, the 4004 paved the way for modern microprocessor computing, which serves as the “brains” of virtually all modern technology, from the cloud to the edge.

Microprocessors enable the convergence of powerful technologies such as ubiquitous computing, pervasive connectivity, cloud-to-edge infrastructure, and artificial intelligence, creating a pace of innovation faster than ever before.

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the 4004 chip. It’s a momentous moment in technology advancements, and it’s important to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past half-century,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. “4004 is a technology that could lead to a real leap forward in computing,” he said.

The 4004 was a pioneering microprocessor, and its success proved that complex integrated circuits could be built and fit on a chip the size of a fingernail. This invention laid the foundation for a new random logic design methodology that later generations of microprocessors were built on before the next effort to build chips that fit into modern devices was made.

“Looking back in 1970, it was clear that microprocessors were going to change the way we design systems and move from hardware to software,” says Federico Faggin, a former Intel engineer who designed and built the Intel 4004 with Tedd Hoff and Stan Mazor. “But over time, the speed at which microprocessors evolved and were adopted by industry was truly remarkable.”

If the 4004 ushered in the modern era of computing by designing and producing the first commercially available microprocessor for desktop computing, the latest 12th generation Intel® Core® processors, unveiled at Intel’s recent Innovation event, will usher in a new era of computing.

12th Gen Intel Core processors are based on a new hybrid architecture that closely co-engines software and hardware and will deliver new levels of industry-leading performance over multiple generations. Additionally, Intel continues to innovate, explore new areas, and push the boundaries of computing based on its research in quantum computing, cryogenic Intel Horse Ridge 2 solutions, neuromorphic computing, and the Intel Loihi 2 chip.

Meanwhile, in 1969, Japanese calculator maker Nippon Calculating Machine Corp. (NCM) asked Intel to build integrated circuits for its new Bushcom 141-PF printing calculator. Federico Faggin, then an Intel engineer, and his team modified plans for 12 custom chips into four families of chips, including the Intel® 4004 chip. About the size of a human fingernail, the Intel® 4004 offered the same computing power as the first big-box personal computer, developed in 1946.