Intel’s new AI chips can crunch data 1,000 times faster than normal ones

The hardware is already being used to improve the performance of things like prosthetic limbs.
The news: Intel has just unveiled Pohoiki Beach, a system that contains 64 of its Loihi AI processors. These are so-called neuromorphic chips that seek to imitate the learning ability and energy efficiency of human brains. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it’s proving popular with researchers training various kinds of AI applications.
A silicon leg up: Pohoiki Beach can perform certain data-crunching tasks up to 1,000 times faster than more general-purpose processors such as CPUs and GPUs, while using much less power.
That’s an exciting prospect for AI researchers, a group of whom are already experimenting with the new hardware platform. Among other things, they are using it to improve the way prosthetic limbs adapt to uneven ground and to create more accurate digital maps that can be used by autonomous vehicles.
The next step: Rich Uhlig, the head of Intel Labs, predicts the company will produce a system capable of simulating 100 million neurons by the end of 2019. Researchers will then be able to apply it to a whole new set of applications, such as better control of robot arms.
Deep Dive
Artificial intelligence
The inside story of how ChatGPT was built from the people who made it
Exclusive conversations that take us behind the scenes of a cultural phenomenon.
ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.
New large language models will transform many jobs. Whether they will lead to widespread prosperity or not is up to us.
GPT-4 is bigger and better than ChatGPT—but OpenAI won’t say why
We got a first look at the much-anticipated big new language model from OpenAI. But this time how it works is even more deeply under wraps.
Google just launched Bard, its answer to ChatGPT—and it wants you to make it better
Under pressure from its rivals, Google is updating the way we look for information by introducing a sidekick to its search engine.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.