Welcome to life in the chip age

November 6, 2026Ryan sits down with Rakesh Kumar, professor of computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, about the astounding complexity of manufacturing modern semiconductors, the massive environmental and geopolitical footprint of AI data centers, and how AI models are rapidly shifting the future of chip design.Dive deeper into the history and future of semiconductors by checking out Rakesh’s book, The Chip Age.Learn more about Rakesh’s work at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.Congrats to Necromancer badge winner Faisal Khan for winning the badge on their answer to Difference between SWIFT Interact & Fileact transmissions.


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