AMD first entered the CPU market with reverse-engineered Intel 8080 clone 50 years ago — the Am9080 cost 50 cents apiece to make, but sold for $700

The chip which paved the way for AMD’s illustrious future, eventually creating some of the best CPUs we’ve ever tested, entered mass production 50 years ago. AMD’s Am9080 had something of a shady origin, as it was a reverse-engineered and cloned Intel 8080. However, due to the importance of second-sourcing among organizations that would end up buying boatloads of 8080 microprocessors (e.g., the military), Intel and AMD eventually reached a licensing agreement, and the rest, as they say, is history.