A team of engineers from the University of Pennsylvania in the USA unveiled a new processor for Artificial Intelligence that promises a significant technological leap.
All because the new chip is powered by light and not electricity, which not only drastically increases processing speeds but also reduces energy consumption.
How the AI chip works with light
The new processor can perform calculations at the speed of light Credit@KevinSanderson/Pixabay
According to information released by the North American team of engineers, the center of this new chip is its silicon photonic field. This material, which is characterized by being abundant and economical, has the brilliant ability to manipulate light.
The engineering team explored how processor materials can be tuned at the nanoscale to perform complex mathematical operations using only light waves.
In this way, the new processor can perform calculations literally at the speed of light. This means that any equipment that integrates this chip will be able to reach much faster speeds when carrying out any type of task.
More privacy and lower energy consumption
But this technological innovation brings with it two other great advantages: more privacy and lower energy consumption.
Bearing in mind that the processor already uses light input to process data, it will also use this same light to power itself, significantly reducing the need for it to be connected to electricity.
It will also allow for greater privacy, as you will not need to store data in your memory or on remote servers to perform several calculations simultaneously.
Oh, and as it doesn't store data, it will also be much safer against hacker attacks. For now, this North American team has limited itself to making this technological innovation known, without giving details about when it will hit the market and which will be the first devices to integrate this powerful chip.