OpenAI unveils its first custom chip, built by Broadcom
Key takeaways
- On Wednesday, Open AI unveiled its first custom-built inference processor, designed and manufactured in collaboration with Broadcom.
- While the chip is still being tested, Open AI says early results show significantly better performance-per-watt than current state-of-the-art alternatives.
- The partnership was officially announced in October, but OpenAI s chip plans have long been rumored as a way to reduce the company s dependence on Nvidia s GPUs.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
On Wednesday, Open AI unveiled its first custom-built inference processor, designed and manufactured in collaboration with Broadcom. Named Jalapeño, the new processor was designed specifically for the unique needs of Open AI s inference systems. Open AI s own AI models assisted in the development of the chip, the company said.
While the chip is still being tested, Open AI says early results show significantly better performance-per-watt than current state-of-the-art alternatives.
The partnership was officially announced in October, but OpenAI s chip plans have long been rumored as a way to reduce the company s dependence on Nvidia s GPUs. Google and Amazon have both built custom chips to serve a similar purpose, often called AI accelerators — silicon designed specifically to speed up machine learning workloads.