5. Intel 4004 The Intel 4004 was a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. It was the first complete CPU on one chip, and also the first commercially available microprocessor. the 4001 was a ROM (read-only memory) with four lines of output the 4002 was a RAM (random access memory) with four lines of input/output the 4003 was a static shift register to be used for expanding the I/O lines, for example, for keyboard scanning or for controlling a printer. The 4004 included control functions for memory and I/O, which are not normally handled by the microprocessor.