Updated

Updated · Xinhua · Jun 4

Sber Unveils Russia's First Optical AI Processor With 1 Billion Matrix Operations per Second

Updated

Updated · Xinhua · Jun 4

Sber Unveils Russia's First Optical AI Processor With 1 Billion Matrix Operations per Second

2 articles · Updated · Xinhua · Jun 4

Sber said its first prototype already performs more than 1 billion matrix multiplication operations per second, marking Russia's first optical processor built for AI workloads.
The chip uses a photonic integrated circuit developed entirely by Sber researchers, replacing electronic signals with light to speed up calculations central to training and running large AI models.
Optical matrix multiplication takes fractions of a nanosecond, and the optical core uses more than 30% less energy than comparable electronic processors, according to Sber executive Andrei Belevtsev.
Sber said the design could scale to 10 GHz and beyond as AI data centers face rising power demand, positioning photonic computing as a lower-heat, lower-cost infrastructure option.

Sources

Sber unveiled a breakthrough optical chip. Can Russia build the domestic supply chain needed to mass-produce this advanced technology?

As German rivals already ship photonic chips, can Sber's prototype truly challenge leaders in the global AI hardware race?

AI's escalating energy demand is a global crisis. Is this new light-based computing the sustainable breakthrough the industry needs?

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