The capital required to <i>currently</i> produce top-of-the-line ICs is too large. But we&#x27;re getting closer - people are building their own CPUs. E.g. there was the article of someone breadboarding a CPU in the 10&#x27;s of MHz range recently. And there are plenty of FPGA projects, which while still depending on ICs manufactured by a central manufacturer substantially reduces their role.