Photonic Processor Achieves Breakthrough in AI Acceleration

Lightmatter's groundbreaking research, published in Nature, unveils a revolutionary photonic processor capable of running state-of-the-art AI models like ResNet and BERT with accuracy comparable to traditional 32-bit floating-point systems. Integrating six chips in a single package, this processor delivers 65.5 trillion ABFP operations per second while consuming only 78 watts of electrical power and 1.6 watts of optical power. This breakthrough represents a significant step towards post-transistor computing, offering a viable solution to the exponentially increasing costs of AI computation.