Moore’s law in peril and the future of computing - Physics World Stories Podcast

Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel who died earlier this year, is famous for forecasting a continuous rise in the density of transistors that we can pack onto semiconductor chips. His eponymous “Moore’s law” still holds true after almost six decades, but further progress is becoming harder and eye-wateringly expensive to sustain. In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast we look at the practicalities of keeping Moore’s law alive, why it matters, and why physicists have a critical role to play. Right now, one of the key questions is whether computer hardware can keep up with the demands of large language models and other forms of generative AI. There is also concern over whether computing can help tackle today’s complex global challenges without skyrocketing energy demands. New computing paradigms are needed, and optical- and quantum based-computing may have key ...