Intel created the 1971 Intel 4004 microprocessor with Busicom. The chip was designed for a Japanese calculator company originally known as Busicom and is widely recognized as the first commercially produced microprocessor.
Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stanley Mazor played major roles in developing the four-chip MCS-4 system. The 4004 was a 4-bit processor, and its design demonstrated that a computer’s central processing functions could be placed on a small silicon chip.
The 4004 is sometimes called the first microprocessor without qualification, but descriptions vary depending on whether they mean the first commercial example, the first single-chip CPU, or an earlier experimental design. Intel’s chip became commercially available in 1971 and helped establish the company’s role in the microprocessor industry.