EU-South Korea analysis consortium will get to work on reducing AI chip power use

A world analysis effort is mobilising to develop chips with the potential to cut back the power consumption of synthetic intelligence (AI) datacentres through the use of gentle as a substitute of electrical energy to course of data.

The work is being pioneered by a crew of scientists from Europe and South Korea, working collectively because the Haetae consortium, who’ve already obtained €1.49m in funding from the European Union (EU) to financially assist their work.

In response to the group, the chips they’ve below improvement may very well be as much as 10 instances extra power environment friendly than what’s at the moment obtainable, and will pave the way in which for sooner, greener and safer cloud and digital companies within the years to return.

“By utilizing gentle slightly than electrical energy to carry out calculations, we are able to make AI dramatically sooner and way more energy-efficient, whereas opening the door to thoroughly new computing capabilities,” mentioned Haetae venture coordinator Miltiadis Moralis. “To place it merely, if we consider in the present day’s AI {hardware} as a steam engine, this new photonics know-how has jet propulsion.”

It is because gentle, within the type of photons, can journey at excessive velocity and generate far much less warmth than counting on electrons to do the identical job, mentioned Moralis, including: “Photonics provides a method to maintain digital companies enhancing with out driving power consumption by way of the roof.

“For on a regular basis customers, this might translate into sooner and extra responsive AI companies, from digital assistants to real-time translation and search; decrease power payments and diminished environmental affect, as datacentres eat much less electrical energy; and improved digital healthcare, transport and communication programs, powered by ultra-efficient AI.”

And that is vital, as outlined by the organisation, as a result of the power calls for of AI workloads at a datacentre degree are rising quickly and are placing more and more excessive strain on the continent’s power grids.

In response to long-term modelling by Copenhagen Infrastructure Companions and suppose tank Europa in its Powering the longer term – A imaginative and prescient for Europe’s power system in 2050 report, the rising demand for digital companies throughout the continent would require enormous investments in power era and community capability.

Europe alone might want to dramatically generate extra electrical energy, embark on an enormous renewable enlargement and have a far smarter grid by 2050 to fulfill rising digital and industrial demand, the report claims.

There may be additionally significance about this work being a joint analysis enterprise between teams of scientists from Europe and South Korea, with the previous group bringing its data and expertise in photonics to bear on the latter group’s energy in semi-conductor manufacturing, mentioned Moralis.

“Future computing can be constructed by way of worldwide collaboration. This partnership permits Europe and South Korea to mix complementary strengths and push the boundaries of what AI {hardware} can obtain,” he mentioned.

A serious share of the venture’s European analysis contribution is being led out of Greece, mentioned Moralis, as a result of nation’s main place in photonics, optical computing and superior semiconductor analysis.

“Greece has change into one among Europe’s most dynamic centres for photonics and optical computing analysis,” he mentioned. “Haetae displays how European innovation can thrive by way of robust educational foundations mixed with deep worldwide collaboration.”