Overview
The Intel 4004, released on November 15, 1971, was the first commercially available microprocessor, marking a significant milestone in the development of central processing units (CPUs). Designed by Intel Corporation for Busicom Corp., the 4004 chip integrated a 4-bit CPU into a single chip, leveraging MOS silicon gate technology (SGT) to achieve twice the transistor density and five times the operating speed of existing technology. This innovation paved the way for the widespread adoption of SGT in the semiconductor industry, with companies like Texas Instruments, Motorola, and Zilog soon following suit.