IBM Fellow and Chief Technology Officer of Systems Development Christian Jacobi joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about microchips. How small can we make a microchip? How was the first computer chip created? Why are there only a few chip makers in the world? Answers to these questions and many more await on Microchip Support.
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#Technology #Science #Microchips
00:00 – Microchip Support
00:15 – 1+1 = 10
01:21 – Billions of times per second, you say?
01:56 – The microchip monopoly
02:48 – It’s not your computer, it’s Internet Explorer
03:15 – Why are data centers so big?
04:38 – I got billions of transistors…
05:42 – …but a switch ain’t one.
06:11 – It’s getting hot in here
06:35 – How microchips are made
08:39 – The dawn of the (micro)chip
09:32 – AI = better chips?
10:12 – Schrödinger’s chip
11:17 – Microchip gains
12:08 – The Angstrom Age and beyond
13:23 – Semiconductor supercycle: Peak or crash?
14:39 – They’re called microchips for a reason
15:18 – GPU vs CPU
16:27 – Chips need all the chefs in the kitchen
18:24 – Dennard Scaling is failing Moore and Moore
20:07 – Microchip design embraces imperfections
21:11 – Microchips in brains?
22:51 – A speck of dust never seemed so big
23:22 – How Christian became IBM’s CTO
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@TiberianHunter
May 19, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Christian, Nice well done ‼️ thanks for your time 🫶🏽
@barscagrdinc7290
May 19, 2026 at 3:57 pm
While some topics are explained very good, I believe some basic questions explained poorly. Kind of assumed people have pre knowledge about topics. For example when cpu and gpu differences explained, I would expect an explanation that covers many parallel calculations vs cpu is more generic etc. There are more examples like this.
@BREAKERisDEAD
May 19, 2026 at 4:08 pm
Explain the 6EQUJ5 Wow! Signal to me like Im 5 pls 🛸
@inmanis2924
May 19, 2026 at 4:12 pm
data centers have exploded bc the fake AI bubble needs to continue so nivida AND AI companies can continue enriching each other in an eternal cycle
@DotHacker99
May 19, 2026 at 5:23 pm
Its a catch 22 where they trade resources or stock for product and vice versa. That inflates the stock prices of both and if and when the bubble pops itll burst prices of everything to realistic levels
@tazimusics
May 19, 2026 at 4:50 pm
To be clear: The transistors and what not are so small, SO INCREDIBLY small, that they had to CREATE A SPECIAL TYPE OF LIGHT in order to have a wavelength small enough to etch the tiny little etchings that we need for these chips. Dear god man.
@BrankoDimitrijevic021
May 19, 2026 at 5:22 pm
Yup. “Extreme ultra-violet” is basically a misnomer: its so extreme that it’s almost X-rays. Bonkers.
@Michalos86
May 19, 2026 at 5:25 pm
A special kind of light source maybe. They did not create light that was not known already.
@tazimusics
May 19, 2026 at 8:29 pm
Well don’t you feel tough. As if I claimed such things.
@teoteo-s197
May 19, 2026 at 4:54 pm
Lmao AI isn’t being used to “make people more productive.” The average worker is more productive than anymore before. AI is being used to replace people in the pursuit of the billionaires’ greed.
@TheSkinnyZ
May 19, 2026 at 4:55 pm
Oh! Hi, German!
@TheSkinnyZ
May 19, 2026 at 5:02 pm
8:59 called it.
@TheSkinnyZ
May 19, 2026 at 4:59 pm
My favorite chips are the ones I can eat.
@PolygonStew
May 19, 2026 at 5:02 pm
thanks! I have been wondering about this. Taking C# and learning a lot
@PolygonStew
May 19, 2026 at 5:09 pm
yep Aliens
@TheSkinnyZ
May 19, 2026 at 5:14 pm
Interesting that he’s not gung-ho about putting chips in our brains, lol!
@DotHacker99
May 19, 2026 at 5:19 pm
Friendly reminder that al data centers often use up about if not more water and electricity than the surrounding towns to the point of towns people being forced to use low pressure water. Thats right if a data centers opens up near you you may be reduced to sponge baths along with air and noise pollution that damage your body.
@thegeicogecko
May 19, 2026 at 5:35 pm
11:14 I dont feel like he answered the question. Everyone is aware current technology relies on silicon, that wasnt what the question asked. Is there another alternative to silicon? Is there a particular reason we NEED silicon? How viable would alternatives like other semiconductors be if we were hypothetically forced to switch within the next X years? What is the reason silicon is better than other alternatives, and in what way would we be impeded if we didnt use silicon?
@thismakesmemad
May 19, 2026 at 5:46 pm
Those 5 year olds might be a little confused.
@Benjaminboedker
May 19, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Man, the more I learn the less I know 🫠
@cheese-crackers-q2k
May 19, 2026 at 5:59 pm
Corporations and Wall Street have only ever had the bottom line in mind. That will not change. The cost of human labor has always been a target for cost reduction programs. Corporations have scraped away at the labor force every way they know how in order to reduce that cost, with the exception of the most talented labor. AI will enable them to scrape more and more. They will target every job they can.
@Chiman1100
May 19, 2026 at 6:29 pm
What does causes imperfections in chips commonly? and what is done to normally prevent or minimize them?
@RaminM-xe2jl
May 19, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Eventually microchips will no longer be made with silicon 🤔
@jessietomich8043
May 19, 2026 at 7:21 pm
This is all stuff I know. What I like is this guy’s delivery. I think he could teach this to kids.
@68024
May 19, 2026 at 7:45 pm
AI may not replace people but it will devalue human labor
@geoffre5
May 19, 2026 at 8:50 pm
Did he saw IBM? was this filmed in 1996?
@dancingpeach6454
May 19, 2026 at 9:08 pm
That shirt is picking a fight with someone somewhere
@ahmed1a313
May 19, 2026 at 9:25 pm
3:09 also in the case of apple they were purposefully slowing down phones for what “battery longevity” lmao