IBM claims world’s first sub-1 nanometer chip technology

IBM announced on October 10, 2023, its development of a new chip architecture that it claims is the world's first "sub-1 nanometer chip technology." This innovation allows for the integration of nearly 100 billion transistors onto a chip the size of a human fingernail, effectively doubling the transistor density of IBM's previous chip generations. The company states this advancement will significantly enhance compute performance and energy efficiency, particularly for AI data centers. Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, described the development as a "meaningful leap forward" that points towards a future of substantially more powerful computing with no corresponding increase in energy consumption. IBM clarified that "sub-1 nanometer chip technology" refers to the performance gains achievable with theoretical features smaller than 1 nanometer, rather than the literal fabrication of such small components, which is currently impractical due to physical limitations. The new "nanostack" architecture is designed to deliver these expected performance improvements.