My startup is doing work in this area (more SPMD than traditional single thread CPU). We work with FPGAs to get the incredible costs of ASIC manufacture down s

My startup is doing work in this area (more SPMD than traditional single thread CPU). We work with FPGAs to get the incredible costs of ASIC manufacture down so we can get our prototypes out there. For the specific workloads we target we can be competitive even with this technology handicap - which says a lot about the low hanging fruit that is out there. In my opinion the industry has really stagnated, with nobody really stepping back and looking at the whole picture. SWE certainly has more mindshare and development. But the CPU industry is seriously greenfield at this point if you are willing to try something different than stuffing more of the same onto a smaller die.