Silicon Valley is in mourning.
The bastion of American tech has just lost one of its founders.
Gordon Moore, co-founder of semiconductor giant Intel, died on March 24.
"Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced today that company co-founder Gordon Moore has passed away at the age of 94," a statement read.
The foundation he established with his wife Betty in 2000 reported that Moore died peacefully, surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. The Moore foundation donated more than $5.1 billion to charitable causes since it was founded.
A doctor of chemistry, Moore and his longtime colleague, physicist Robert Noyce, nicknamed the "mayor of Silicon Valley", created NM Electronics in 1968. A few months later, the two men bought the Intel name for $15,000.
Moore initially served as Executive Vice President of the company until 1975, when he became President. In 1979, Moore was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer. He remained CEO for almost 10 years. In 1987, he gave up the CEO position and continued as chairman. In 1997, Moore became chairman emeritus, stepping down in 2006.
Moore's Law Significance
In 1971, Intel (INTC) marketed the first microprocessor, the equivalent of a computer on a chip, a programmable processor that contained several thousand transistors, a revolution. The Intel microprocessor, the most important piece of a computer, powered about 80% of the world's personal computers.
Intel has, however, somewhat ceded the ground to semiconductor groups like Samsung and TSMC, whose revenues are higher. Moore will be remembered for developing what is known as Moore's Law.
In 1965, while employed by Fairchild Semiconductor, Moore predicted, in an article published by Electronics magazine, that the density of transistors on integrated circuit would double every year.
He would revise his projection in 1975, in an equally empirical way, to the density doubling every two years. Another microchip pioneer, Carver Mead, called this prophecy Moore's Law.
The evolution of microprocessor capabilities has followed Moore's Law for decades, increasing the performance of electronics and computing while driving down costs.
According to several estimates, the cost of a transistor has been reduced by several hundred million times since the beginning of the 1960s. This evolution has made it possible to revolutionize computing and electronics, first with personal computers, then with various devices, up to the mobile phone.
Specialists predict that Moore's law will soon no longer apply due to physical limits of the integration of transistors on a circuit.
Gordon Moore Tributes
Tributes to Moore started pouring in as soon as his death was announced.
"The world lost a giant in Gordon Moore, who was one of Silicon Valley’s founding fathers and a true visionary who helped pave the way for the technological revolution. All of us who followed owe him a debt of gratitude," wrote on Twitter Apple's CEO Tim Cook. "May he rest in peace."
Pat Gelsinger, the Intel CEO, said that Moore "defined the technology industry through his insight and vision."
"He was instrumental in revealing the power of transistors, and inspired technologists and entrepreneurs across the decades. We at Intel remain inspired by Moore’s Law and intend to pursue it until the periodic table is exhausted," Gelsinger continued.
