World's first 'thermodynamic computing chip' reaches tape out — Normal Computing's physics-based ASIC changes lanes to train more AI
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CN101 forgoes deterministic logic to train more AI at lower energy budgets

I haven’t heard about thermodynamic computing before, but it sounds pretty interesting. As IEEE Spectrum explains , “the components of a thermodynamic chip begin in a semi-random state. A program is fed into the components, and once equilibrium is reached between these parts, the equilibrium is read out as the solution. This computation style only works with applications that involve a non-deterministic result … various AI tasks, such as AI image generation and other training tasks, thrive on this hardware.” It sounds almost like quantum computing to my layperson ears. [edit: fixed link]

  • Optional@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    4 days ago

    Thermodynamic chips are a world apart from traditional computing — closer in practice to the realms of quantum and probabilistic computing. Where noise is the enemy of standard electronics, thermodynamic and probabilistic chips actively use noise to solve problems. 

    “We’re focusing on algorithms that are able to leverage noise, stochasticity, and nondeterminism,” said Zachary Belateche, silicon engineering lead at Normal Computing, in a recent interview with IEEE Spectrum. “That algorithm space turns out to be huge, everything from scientific computing to AI to linear algebra."