Designing a specific model into silicon buys you three orders of magnitude of speed and energy-efficiency. Flexible, software-defined solutions are used today

Designing a specific model into silicon buys you three orders of magnitude of speed and energy-efficiency. Flexible, software-defined solutions are used today because adaptability is key in an environment where people expect better models in the very near future that would obsolete the expensive investment in masks. If this situation ends, and people stop expecting better models, models will be directly etched into silicon and adaptable systems will not be able to compete with them.