IBM Announces 0.7nm Process Node, Introduces NanoStack

IBM has announced a 0.7nm (nanometer) semiconductor process node, which refers to the scale of transistors on a chip — smaller numbers mean more transistors can fit on a chip, generally yielding faster and more power-efficient processors. The announcement also introduces "NanoStack," a new transistor architecture. This matters because the global semiconductor industry has been struggling to shrink transistor sizes beyond the current 3nm and 2nm nodes due to fundamental physics limits. IBM's research-level announcement (not a commercial product yet) signals a potential path forward for the entire industry, though 0.7nm chips are likely years away from mass production. The company has historically been a pioneer in chip manufacturing research, even though it no longer fabricates its own chips at scale, instead licensing its innovations to partners like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC.