ElI5 how microchips have millions of transistors without placing them individually

Question

ElI5 how microchips have millions of transistors without placing them individually

In: 5

Answer 1

For the “simple” digital transistors, that’s correct. The advent of Auto Place and Route software took the digital logic away from hand placed transistors. During the 386, 486, and early Pentium days, hand placement was typical.
Now most of the transistors are APR’d but the larger, more complex analog circuits, are still hand drawn and given some human attention.
Creating a chip with billions isn’t possible without APR.