TSMC Doesn’t Care if Moore’s Law is Alive or Dead, VP Says That It’s Irrelevant In Modern Times

TSMC believes that Moore's Law is irrelevant in modern-day markets, as the firm has sought out efficient methods of "technology scaling."

The current semiconductor dynamics have evolved tremendously, and over the past few years, companies have started to pave out new ways to continue the innovation process in the markets rather than depending upon traditions such as Moore's Law. For those unaware, Moore's Law focuses on a continuous model of "node shrinking" in a certain period, associating this with the only way to receive generational performance bumps. However, firms like TSMC have figured out "effective" workarounds that are sustainable and superior.

In an interview with Dr. Kevin Zhang, SVP and Deputy Co-COO of TSMC, by the expert Ian Cutress, it was revealed that TSMC had defied the semiconductor morals established by Moore's Law and that with the influx of AI, the scalability of compute power has grown massively, credits to techniques and improvements brought by TSMC in its semiconductor products. Upon asking about Moore's Law, here is what TSMC's official had to say:

Well, my simple answer is - I don't care. As long as we can continue to drive the technology scaling, I don't care if Moore’s Law is alive or dead.

But the reality is that many have narrowly defined Moore’s Law based on two-dimensional scaling - that's no longer the case. As you look at the innovation hype in our industry, we actually continue to find different ways to integrate more functions and more capabilities into smaller form factors.

We continue to achieve a higher level of performance and a higher level of power efficiency. So from that perspective, I think that Moore’s Law, or technology scaling, will continue. We will continue to innovate and carry the industry forward.

- TSMC's Dr. Kevin Zhang (via More Than Moore)

This statement does indeed verify the fact that Moore's Law's role in defining the shape of the markets is decreasing with time. Given that semiconductor companies are determined to squeeze in "functionalities" in their process nodes, this has contributed massively to the exponential growth in capabilities. When asked about whether TSMC's major nodes are "incremental," Zhang revealed that their technology roadmap negates this fact, and he backed this with the fact that TSMC's 5nm to 3nm journey brought in 30% energy efficiency improvement, which is massive.

Zhang also revealed TSMC's CoWoS supply status, claiming that the Taiwan giant is focusing on rapidly upscaling production lines. The CAGR currently stands at 60%, with room for further growth. He says that CoWoS is the "workhorse for AI accelerators," and with the ongoing innovation in this segment, the future is indeed exciting.

Moore's Law, once known as a benchmark for the markets, is slowly transitioning into a phase of "retirement" as new techniques overtake it. A notable one is Huang's Law, which has brought about a 1000-times performance increment in computing chips during the last decade.

News Source: Ian Cutress