This is not a joke, nor is it a prank.
But rather, it’s the ‘easter egg’ hidden in the chip, also known as silicon art.
‘Easter Egg’ inside the Chip
Wait, isn’t this the main character from the cartoon picture book ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Waldo, right?
Soon, Davidson realized that this pattern, which shouldn’t have appeared on the chip, was likely intentionally left by the designer as a ‘signature’. This unexpected discovery opened the door for Davidson to explore chip art. He even created a website dedicated to collecting these intriguing chip ‘easter eggs’ called ‘The Silicon Zoo’. And Waldo’s picture became the first chip art that Davidson uncovered.
Today, his Silicon Zoo showcases over 300 pieces of chip art dating from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. These include signatures of chip designers, various cartoon characters, airplanes, cars, trains, and more.
What is a Chip Egg?
It is usually text, objects, drawings, recognizable characters, or even unique signatures created by designers through non-functional etching. They are often hidden in the design in some places. These chip ‘Easter eggs’ are generally difficult to find and some may never be discovered.
Why there are Chip “eggs”?
The first chip art was born when? The earliest known silicon art in the Silicon Zoo dates back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, with chips from Texas Instruments (TI).
Additionally, around the same time, one of the early players in chip art, Intel, is also considered an early form of chip art. In 1971, Intel released the Intel 4004, which concealed a set of initials – ‘F.F.’ representing its designer Federico Faggin.
Following this, the emerging electronics industry experienced rapid growth, and designers began various forms of creative expression. Companies like early Infineon and STMicroelectronics were particularly enthusiastic about creating chip art. It is said that during that time, the most prolific silicon art creators were from HP (Hewlett-Packard), and they even held a competition.
Of course, aside from satisfying the enjoyment of hardware designers, Easter eggs in chips also serve a very important role in preventing plagiarism.
The seventies and eighties of the last century were the golden age of silicon art. In the early stages of chip production, there was a lack of policies regarding chip design copyrights. Newly designed chips were often ‘replicated’ by competitors, and plagiarism was rampant and unchecked.
To protect their interests, hardware designers had no choice but to incorporate some ‘non-functional’ yet labelable as ‘original’ elements into chip designs – these are what we now call ‘eggs’ in chips.
It wasn’t until 1984, with the enactment of the U.S. Semiconductor Chip Protection Act, that ‘identical chip layouts would automatically be considered infringement.’ Chip art gradually faded from the scene thereafter.
Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, the electronics industry began to mature, and semiconductor production became more standardized and automated. Chip designs became increasingly complex and rigorous. With no more copyright concerns, management started prohibiting designers from ‘drawing’ on chips. This was due to concerns that these small creative additions might disrupt certain chip functionalities, and chip design was already a time-consuming and resource-intensive process.
For instance, there was a case where a designer incorporated an image of a leopard into a memory controller. This led to technical staff mistakenly interpreting it as a design flaw during inspections, wasting an entire day.
From its inception to its peak and eventual fading from the public eye, chip art had a history spanning nearly 50 years. Although chip Easter eggs are rarely seen today, it’s believed that as long as the electronics industry continues to evolve, chip designers will never cease their creative endeavors.
