Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
China has just filed a patent that could challenge one of the oldest assumptions in computing. But the story begins nearly seventy years earlier, when Soviet engineers built the world's first working ternary computer—a machine history almost forgot.
In this video, we break down the incredible story of Setun, the ternary computer developed at Moscow State University in 1958, why it worked, why it disappeared despite its success, and how China's latest research is bringing the same idea back for the AI era.
You'll learn how ternary computing differs from traditional binary computing, why a trit can carry significantly more information than a bit, and how Setun proved that three-state computers were possible decades before modern silicon chips even existed.
We also explain why binary computing dominated the world, how manufacturing—not engineering—decided the outcome, and why the rapid growth of artificial intelligence is forcing chip designers to reconsider ideas that were abandoned generations ago.
Then we examine the breakthrough research from Peking University, where scientists built working ternary logic circuits using carbon nanotube transistors, demonstrated ternary memory and logic gates, and achieved perfect handwritten digit recognition using a ternary neural network.
Finally, we analyze Huawei's ternary computing patent, what the patent actually claims, what many viral headlines got wrong, and why major semiconductor leaders like TSMC, Imec, and ASML are all exploring post-silicon technologies as conventional transistor scaling approaches its physical limits.
This is not just a story about one patent. It is a story about ternary computing, Setun, Nikolay Brusentsov, carbon nanotube transistors, Huawei, Peking University, artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, post-silicon computing, computer architecture, chip design, and the future of computing itself.
#China #Huawei #Computing #Semiconductors #ArtificialIntelligence #ChipDesign #Technology #Innovation #ComputerScience #TernaryComputing #CarbonNanotubes #FutureTech #TSMC #ASML #Engineering
China has just filed a patent that could challenge one of the oldest assumptions in computing. But the story begins nearly seventy years earlier, when Soviet engineers built the world's first working ternary computer—a machine history almost forgot.
In this video, we break down the incredible story of Setun, the ternary computer developed at Moscow State University in 1958, why it worked, why it disappeared despite its success, and how China's latest research is bringing the same idea back for the AI era.
You'll learn how ternary computing differs from traditional binary computing, why a trit can carry significantly more information than a bit, and how Setun proved that three-state computers were possible decades before modern silicon chips even existed.
We also explain why binary computing dominated the world, how manufacturing—not engineering—decided the outcome, and why the rapid growth of artificial intelligence is forcing chip designers to reconsider ideas that were abandoned generations ago.
Then we examine the breakthrough research from Peking University, where scientists built working ternary logic circuits using carbon nanotube transistors, demonstrated ternary memory and logic gates, and achieved perfect handwritten digit recognition using a ternary neural network.
Finally, we analyze Huawei's ternary computing patent, what the patent actually claims, what many viral headlines got wrong, and why major semiconductor leaders like TSMC, Imec, and ASML are all exploring post-silicon technologies as conventional transistor scaling approaches its physical limits.
This is not just a story about one patent. It is a story about ternary computing, Setun, Nikolay Brusentsov, carbon nanotube transistors, Huawei, Peking University, artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, post-silicon computing, computer architecture, chip design, and the future of computing itself.
#China #Huawei #Computing #Semiconductors #ArtificialIntelligence #ChipDesign #Technology #Innovation #ComputerScience #TernaryComputing #CarbonNanotubes #FutureTech #TSMC #ASML #Engineering
