Gordon Moore, one of the co-founders of Intel and a pioneering figure in Silicon Valley, has passed away at the age of 94. According to a press release from Intel, Moore was part of the group of eight who founded Fairchild Semiconductor, which became an incubator for many other Silicon Valley companies, including AMD. Moore and Robert Noyce, a fellow member of the eight, went on to establish Intel with the name Integrated Electronics in 1968. Moore eventually became chairman and CEO of the company in 1979, and served as CEO for eight years.
While Moore obviously played a large role in the development of the tech that powers modern computing devices, many people will also be familiar with his name because of “Moore’s Law.” In 1965, he predicted that processors would roughly double in transistor count every year. A decade later, he changed his estimate to be one doubling every two years. While that may no longer be the case, the idea held true for a surprisingly long time.
When asked about his famous prediction in 2015, Moore replied, “Once I made a successful prediction, I avoided making another,” according to a statement from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Last year, Intel named its new Oregon facility after him: “Gordon Moore Park” had its grand opening on April 11th, 2022. According to Intel, Moore’s recent pursuits were philanthropic, as he worked with his wife on problems concerning “environmental conservation, scientific research, higher education and the San Francisco Bay Area,” according to a founders’ statement on his foundation’s page.
