How close are we to creating advanced computer chips at home?

4 pointsKuriousCat1 comment

Can building a computer be as easy as printing a sheet of paper? With the advancement of 3D printing, desktop manufacturing, and chip design tools, how far are we from being able to manufacture high-performance computer chips (e.g., ARM, Nvidia) at home with minimal setup? What are the key barriers, and what technologies hold the most promise to democratize chip fabrication?

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I'm far from an expert on this but I think the answer is "very far". At least, depending on your definition of "advanced".

Making chips at home? Totally doable, especially if you count using FPGA's. But people have actually manufactured fairly primitive chips in DIY settings if memory serves.

But "real" modern, advanced chips? My understanding is that for the very highest end chips, the machinery needed to fabricate them is made by like one company in the entire world, costs millions (if not billions) of dollars, and takes proper "clean room" environments, probably massive amounts of electricity, and probably way more space than a DIY'er would have access to.

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