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The World Next Week

New Podcast Spotlight: The Interconnect

Feb 14, 2025
Mark Horowitz, Chair of Electrical Engineering at Stanford, and Sebastian Elbaum, a tech expert from the Council on Foreign Relations, dive into the future of chip manufacturing and its impact on AI. They highlight challenges to Moore's Law and the geopolitical implications of semiconductor tech, particularly U.S. export restrictions on China. The guests also discuss energy challenges for AI and brainstorm whimsical app ideas, blending serious topics with creative humor. This engaging dialogue connects the dots between technology and policy like never before.
30:27

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • The podcast highlights the challenges facing Moore's Law, emphasizing the potential rise in costs for advanced electronics as we reach physical limits in microchip manufacturing.
  • Emerging AI technologies are reshaping the semiconductor landscape, illustrating how innovation can thrive even amid hardware constraints, impacting established companies and geopolitical dynamics.

Deep dives

The Future of Moore's Law

Moore’s Law, which predicts the doubling of transistors on a chip approximately every two years, is currently facing significant challenges. Historically, this trend has led to reduced computing costs and increased processing power. However, recent developments show a shift where the cost per transistor is no longer decreasing as expected, raising concerns about the sustainability of this law. Experts suggest that as we approach physical limits in microchip manufacturing, the implications may include higher overall costs for advanced electronics.

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