https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-worlds-largest-computer-chip Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Puzzles & Games * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker Science and Tech * The Real Genius of Steve Jobs * The Itch * China's Selfie Obsession * The U.F.O. Papers Annals of Technology The World's Largest Computer Chip In the race to accelerate A.I., the Silicon Valley company Cerebras has landed on an unusual strategy: go big. By Matthew Hutson August 20, 2021 * * * * * Save this story for later. A table setting with a large computer chip as a plate. A typical computer chip is the size of a fingernail. Cerebras's is the size of a dinner plate.Illustration by Olivia Fields * * * * * Save this story for later. Deep learning, the artificial-intelligence technology that powers voice assistants, autonomous cars, and Go champions, relies on complicated "neural network" software arranged in layers. A deep-learning system can live on a single computer, but the biggest ones are spread over thousands of machines wired together into "clusters," which sometimes live at large data centers, like those operated by Google. In a big cluster, as many as forty-eight pizza-box-size servers slide into a rack as tall as a person; these racks stand in rows, filling buildings the size of warehouses. The neural networks in such systems can tackle daunting problems, but they also face clear challenges. A network spread across a cluster is like a brain that's been scattered around a room and wired together. Electrons move fast, but, even so, cross-chip communication is slow, and uses extravagant amounts of energy. Eric Vishria, a general partner at Benchmark, a venture-capital firm in San Francisco, first came to understand this problem in the spring of 2016, while listening to a presentation from a new computer-chip company called Cerebras Systems. Benchmark is known for having made early investments in companies such as Twitter, Uber, and eBay--that is, in software, not hardware. The firm looks at about two hundred startup pitches a year, and invests in maybe one. "We're in this kissing-a-thousand-frogs kind of game," Vishria told me. As the presentation started, he had already decided to toss the frog back. "I'm, like, Why did I agree to this? We're not gonna do a hardware investment," he recalled thinking. "This is so dumb." [matt_hutso] Matthew Hutson is a contributing writer at The New Yorker covering science and technology. More:Artificial IntelligenceComputersMachine LearningTechnology AutomationSilicon Valley The Daily Sign up for our daily newsletter and get the best of The New Yorker in your in-box. Enter your e-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info