When humanity is pushed to the brink, the world’s greatest minds push back.

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Credits

SEMI is very grateful to the many contributors whose generous input, resources, and support made this industry awareness campaign possible: SEMI’s International Board of Directors, the SEMI Workforce Development Council, the SEMI Diversity and Inclusion Council, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Intel, KLA-Tencor, Nanometrics, and Ajit Manocha—SEMI’s CEO and champion. SEMI would especially like to recognize the enormous contribution of Applied Materials in making their clean room available for an LA-based film crew—none of whom had previously worn a bunny suit. Thanks to all.

The biggest adventures begin with the smallest things

That’s right, semiconductors (aka microchips) are responsible for virtually all the modern technology we’ve come to rely on. But advanced medicine and artificial intelligence are just the beginning—these small but powerful chips are shaping our future in every way. You’re welcome.

 

What are semiconductors?

Semiconductors are the brains of all modern electronics, with the ability to make billions of computations per second and store vast quantities of data. It’s because of their incredible processing power that we have smartphones, computers, video games, cloud storage, space travel, and advanced medical equipment.

And because they’re the basis of so much technology, as semiconductors continue to advance, so will the pace of innovation.

 

How They’re Shaping the Future

 

100 Billion1

Microchips in daily use around the world—that’s equal to the number of stars in our corner of the Milky Way

 

Where do they come from?

As amazing as semiconductors are, what goes into making them is truly a feat of human ingenuity. They are produced with almost inconceivable precision—atomic layer by atomic layer—in multi-billion-dollar facilities (called fabs) around the globe.

In fact, semiconductor manufacturing is a huge industry and continues to grow—with global revenues that will top $500B in 2019 and surpass $1T by 2025.

 

See Inside a Fab

 

20 trillion+2

Number of semiconductor transistors produced each second—that’s hundreds of quintillions per year

At the heart of the
technology you love

Whether you’re driving a car, surfing the internet or using a computer, everything depends on semiconductors—billions of them. Bottom line, innovation in semiconductors means innovation across the board and around the globe.

Artificial Intelligence

Advances in chip design have supercharged processor speeds and unlocked the power of AI. Now and into the future, this technology will influence our everyday lives—predicting traffic flows, modeling weather forecasts, powering voice assistants like Alexa, and far beyond.

Biotech

Semiconductors made mapping the human genome possible in the early 2000s. Now even more powerful chips are driving biotech game-changers—from CRISPR gene editing, to biologic drugs made of living organisms, to home DNA test kits, and more.

Robotics

Thanks to better microchips, robots have evolved into highly-intelligent machines that can perform surgery, deliver packages, and rove the surface of Mars. The next great robotics leap will integrate AI and enable even more autonomy.

Autonomous Vehicles

Because of powerful new semiconductors, self-driving cars are truly just around the corner. In the near future, vehicles will rely on AI with machine learning, allowing them to think on the fly, communicate with other cars, and avoid unknown obstacles.

1 Semiconductor Industry Association, 2018
2 Darrin Qualman, 2017