Intel unveils processor capable of simulating 8 million neurons

Intel has unveiled a new processor code named Pohoiki Beach capable of simulating 8 million neurons. It was unveiled at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Electronics Resurgence Initiative summit in Detroit.

A close-up of an Intel circuit board on display in Duesseldorf, Germany, on January 4, 2018. [File Photo: IC]

Pohoiki Beach is packed with 64 Loihi neuromorphic chips, which contain over 2 billion transistors, 130,000 artificial neurons, and 130 million synapses. It can process data 1,000 times faster and 10,000 times more efficiently than traditional processors.

Pohoiki Beach enables more advanced processing of artificial intelligence algorithms, and could be put to use in applications requiring high-speed processing of large amounts of complex data, such as image recognition, self-driving cars, and autonomous robots.

"We are impressed with the early results demonstrated as we scale Loihi to create more powerful neuromorphic systems. Pohoiki Beach will now be available to more than 60 ecosystem partners, who will use this specialized system to solve complex, compute-intensive problems," said Intel Labs managing director Rich Uhlig.

According to Intel, the company will release an even more powerful system code named Pohoki Springs at the end of this year that will be able to simulate 10 million neurons.