IBM has unveiled what it calls the world’s first sub-1 nanometer chip technology, marking a major breakthrough in semiconductor research that could power the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and advanced electronic devices.
The new chip is built using a 0.7-nanometer (7-angstrom) transistor architecture called Nanostack, allowing engineers to pack nearly 100 billion transistors onto a chip roughly the size of a fingernail. According to IBM, this is nearly twice the transistor density of its 2-nanometer chip introduced in 2021.
IBM said the new design can deliver up to 50 per cent better performance or 70 per cent higher energy efficiency than its earlier 2-nanometer technology. The company believes the breakthrough will help meet the growing computing demands of AI systems while reducing power consumption in data centres and high-performance computers.
A key innovation behind the chip is IBM’s new Nanostack architecture, which stacks transistors vertically instead of relying only on shrinking them horizontally. This approach enables more computing power to be packed into a smaller space, helping overcome the physical limits that have slowed traditional chip miniaturisation in recent years.
The technology is still at the research stage and is not yet ready for commercial production. IBM expects it could take around five years before the chip reaches large-scale manufacturing through industry partners. The company no longer manufactures chips itself but licenses its technology to semiconductor firms.
While consumers are unlikely to see products using the new technology anytime soon, IBM’s announcement highlights how chipmakers are continuing to push the boundaries of semiconductor design. If successfully commercialised, the sub-1 nanometer technology could help power faster smartphones, more capable AI systems, energy-efficient data centres and the next generation of computing devices.
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