[shadowgovt]

Nowadays it's emulators all the way down.

On most of these architectures the software eventually executes as x86 machine code, and the distance between x86 machine code and the actual processes inside a modern CPU implementing the x86 code set is so vast you can call a modern CPU an "x86 emulator built in hardware."

[broodbucket]

Entirely accurate. Also makes it easier to have a firmware/microcode update that gives you a new instruction.