PragmatIC Semiconductor designed and manufactured a flexible 6502 in two weeks

You can't necessarily use a mask set designed for one process with another very different one. But they probably did start from the existing netlist.

That's a problem. Their basic claim is that they have, running, a fab for 28nm to 65nm flexible ICs capable of making a billion units a year. They claim 1-day turnaround. They claim to have a 6502 and one of the smaller ARM CPUs working.

What they seem to actually make is RFID tags, which are low-end flexible electronic devices. They promote RFID hard. ("Is RFID the solution to protect and promote wine?") The actual product they sell is described here.[1] "At the core of these new cost-effective smart solutions are Avery Dennison’s NFC inlays, which include NFC ICs from the ConnectIC® range of products manufactured by PragmatIC, a UK-based world leader in ultra-low-cost electronics. As these flexible ICs (“FlexICs”) are thinner than a human hair and robust, they are suitable for small diameter objects and provide the ideal solution for adding a unique identity to cost-sensitive products, for example small syringes, or vials."

So what they seem to be trying to do is take a technology useful for RFID tags and use it for more complex devices. As a demo, they've made some CPUs.

[1] https://rfid.averydennison.com/en/home/news-insights/press-r...

Fabs rarely do. You're deep into "call for pricing" land.

> High resolution images are available in our Press Kit at https://www.pragmaticsemi.com/presskit

edit: reading through the press release, I'm not actually sure how much of this is even true.

Not quite trying to match TSMCs leading edge - as a back of the envelope calculation based on dimensions given in nature paper, a GTX 3080 in this node would be getting on for the size of a billboard!