Significant events in computing include events relating directly or indirectly to software, hardware and wetware. Excluded (except in instances of significant functional overlap) are: events in general robotics events about uses of computational tools in biotechnology and similar fields (except for improvements to the underlying computational tools) as well as events in media-psychology except when those are directly linked to computational tools Currently excluded are: events in computer insecurity, hacking incidents, breaches/Internet conflicts, and malware if they are not also about milestones towards computer security events about quantum computing and communication economic events and events of new technology policy beyond standardization

2020 February 7 – AMD released the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, the first 64 core CPU for consumer market based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. March 12 – 15.ai, a free web application that used artificial intelligence to generate text-to-speech voices of fictional characters, was launched. Created by an AI researcher at MIT, it was notable for its ability to clone voices using as little as 15 seconds of audio data and became widely popular for creating memes and fan content. The platform introduced novel features like emotional contextualizers using DeepMoji for sentiment analysis and supported precise pronunciation control through ARPABET phonetic transcriptions. March 26 – After one of the first and largest public volunteer distributed computing projects, SETI@home announced its shutdown by March 31, 2020, and due to heightened interest as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the distributed computing project Folding@home became the world's first system to reach one exaFLOPS. The system simulates protein folding, is used for medical research on COVID-19 and achieved a speed of approximately 2.43 x86 exaFLOPS by April 13, 2020 many times faster than the fastest supercomputer, Summit. April 20 – Researchers demonstrated a diffusive memristor fabricated from protein nanowires of the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens which functions at substantially lower voltages than previously described ones and may allow the construction of artificial neurons which function at voltages of biological action potentials. The nanowires have a range of advantages over silicon nanowires and the memristors may be used to directly process biosensing signals, for neuromorphic computing and/or direct communication with biological neurons. May 22 – Australian computer scientists reported achieving, thus far, the highest internet speed in the world from a single optical chip source over standard optical fiber, amounting to 44.2 Terabits per sec, or "downloading 1000 high definition movies in a split second". May 27 – A study showed that social networks can function poorly as pathways for inconvenient truths, that the interplay between communication and action during disasters may depend on the structure of social networks, that communication networks suppress necessary "evacuations" in test-scenarios because of false reassurances when compared to groups of isolated individuals and that larger networks with a smaller proportion of informed subjects can suffer more damage due to human-caused misinformation. Fragments of the text were copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

June 11 – Chatbot-technology and text-producing AI GPT-3 was released. July 6 – [Novel protocol/standard] – The Versatile Video Coding standard (H.266) was finalised, designed to halve the bitrate of previous formats, reducing data volume and being especially useful for on-demand 8K streaming services. June 15 – Researchers reported the development of a polymer device that can receive dopamine signals from real cells and learns from it. University press release: July 15 – A cyborg beetle with a camera was demonstrated. It streams video to a smartphone via Bluetooth for a "bug's eye view". August 28 – Elon Musk revealed a model of the prototype brain–computer interface chip, implanted in pigs, that his company Neuralink has been working on. September 3 – Scientists reported finding "176 Open Access journals that, through lack of comprehensive and open archives, vanished from the Web between 2000 and 2019, spanning all major research disciplines and geographic regions of the world" and that in 2019 only about a third of the 14,068 DOAJ-indexed journals ensured the long-term preservation of their content themselves, with many papers not getting archived by Web archiving initiatives such as the Internet Archive.

September 18 – Media reported what may be the first publicly confirmed case of a civilian fatality as a nearly direct consequence of a cyberattack, after ransomware disrupted a hospital in Germany. September 25 – [Novel application of computing / software] – Chemists described, for the first time, possible chemical pathways from nonliving prebiotic chemicals to complex biochemicals that could give rise to living organisms, based on a new computer program named ALLCHEMY. October 28 – A review suggested only surgical robot platforms "that can effectively communicate their intent and explain their decisions to their human companions will find their way into the operating room of the future", defined levels of autonomy and suggested "positive evidence will soon emerge and build up" that would motivate "transition to clinical trials".

2021

[Meta/Policy/Philosophy] – Thomas Metzinger, a German philosopher of cognitive science and applied ethics, called for a "global moratorium on synthetic phenomenology" which, "until 2050", precautionarily bans "all research that directly aims at or knowingly risks the emergence of artificial consciousness on post-biotic carrier systems" – and could be gradually refined. The paper does not describe mechanisms of global enforcement of such proposed regulations which do not consider biotic or semi-biotic systems and aims to limit suffering risks. Available under CC BY 4.0. [Type of database] – A new global food emissions database indicated that the current food systems are responsible for one third of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. [Data usage] – In a static proprietary article that appeared in and was co-reviewed by a scientific journal, authenticated scientists analyzed data from multiple public databases to create a regional representation of levels of deforestation induced by nations' recent, largely unmodulated, trade-, production- and consumption-patterns.

A study found that carbon emissions from Bitcoin mining in China – where a majority of the proof-of-work algorithm that generates current economic value is computed, largely fueled by nonrenewable sources – had accelerated rapidly and would soon exceed total annual emissions of countries like Italy, interfering with climate change mitigation commitments. Available under CC BY 4.0. Neuralink revealed a male macaque with chips embedded on each side of its brain, playing a mind-controlled version of Pong. While similar technology has been demonstrated for decades, and wireless implants have existed for years, some observers noted that the organization increased the number of implanted electrodes that are read wirelessly. Scientists reviewed materials strategies for organic neuromorphic devices, suggesting that "their biocompatibility and mechanical conformability give them an advantage for creating adaptive biointerfaces, brain-machine interfaces, and biology-inspired prosthetics".

Researchers published the first in-depth study of Web browser tab interfaces. They found that many people struggle with tab overload and conducted surveys and interviews about people's tab use. Thereby they formalized pressures for closing tabs and for keeping tabs open. The authors then developed related UI design considerations which could enable better tools and changes to the code of Web browsers – like Firefox – that allow knowledge workers and other users to better manage their tabs. Available under CC BY 4.0. Operation of the U.S. Colonial Pipeline was interrupted by a ransomware cyber attack. A new record for the smallest single-chip system was achieved, occupying a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3.

Scientists demonstrated the first brain–computer interface that decodes neural signals for handwriting. The character output speed of a patient with a paralyzed hand was up to 90 characters per minute – more than double the previous record. Each letter is associated with a highly distinctive pattern of activity in the brain, making it relatively easy for the algorithm to distinguish them. Archivists initiated a rescue mission to secure enduring access to humanity's largest public library of scientific articles, Sci-Hub, due to the site's increased legal troubles, using Web and BitTorrent technologies. Google demonstrated a research project called LaMDA, an automatic language generation system designed to sustain a conversation with a person on any topic. The most comprehensive 3D map of the human brain – of a millionth of a brain and requiring 1.4 petabytes of storage space – was published. El Salvador passed the Bitcoin Law, making it the first country to give cryptocurrency and bitcoin a status of legal tender.Diario Oficial, numero 110, tomo n° 431, 9 de junio de 2021 , Official Journal of El Salvador, National Press of El Salvador The law was passed by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on June 8, 2021, giving the cryptocurrency bitcoin the status of legal tender within El Salvador after September 7, 2021.Gorjón, S. (2021). The role of cryptoassets as legal tender: the example of El Salvador. Banco de Espana Article, 35, 21. It was proposed by President Nayib Bukele. The text of the law states that "the purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out". GitHub Copilot, a programmer assistant AI, was released. Later FOSS variants of the tool included FauxPilot.

In the debate regarding the cognitive impacts of smartphones and digital technology, a group reported that, contrary to widespread belief, scientific evidence does not show that these technologies harm biological cognitive abilities and that they instead change predominant ways of cognition – such as a reduced need to remember facts or conduct mathematical calculations by pen and paper outside contemporary schools. However, some activities – like reading novels – that require long attention-spans and don't feature ongoing rewarding stimulation may become more challenging in general. Open 3D Engine – a game engine that is free and open source software (FOSS) and has Linux support – was released. Researchers used a brain–computer interface to enable a man who was paralyzed since 2003 to produce comprehensible words and sentences by decoding signals from electrodes in the speech areas of his brain. Japan achieved a new world record Internet speed: 319 Tbit/s over ~3000 km which, albeit not being the fastest speed overall, beats the previous record of 178 Tbit/s. Scientists reported that worldwide adolescent loneliness and depression increased substantially after 2012 and that loneliness in contemporary schools appears to be associated with smartphone access and Internet use.

DeepMind announced that its AlphaFold AI had predicted the structures of over 350,000 proteins, including 98.5% of the ~20,000 proteins in the human body. The 3D data along with their degrees of confidence for accuracy was made freely available with a database, doubling the previous number of protein structures in the public domain. Scientists published the first complete neuron-level-resolution 3D map of a monkey brain which they scanned within 100 hours.