Intel Launches 2nd Loihi Neuromorphic Chip; LANL Investigating ‘Trade-offs’ Between Quantum and Neuromorphic Computing

Intel today released an update on its neuromorphic computing strategy, introducing Loihi 2, its second-generation neuromorphic research chip, and Lava, an open-source software framework for developing “neuro-inspired” applications. Intel said Loihi 2 incorporates learnings from three years of use with the first-generation Loihi chip and leverages progress in Intel’s process technology and asynchronous design methods. The new […]

Intel Scales Neuromorphic System to 100 Million Neurons

Today Intel unveiled Pohoiki Springs, its latest and most powerful neuromorphic research system providing the computational capacity of 100 million neurons. “Pohoiki Springs scales up our Loihi neuromorphic research chip by more than 750 times, while operating at a power level of under 500 watts,” said Mike Davies, director of Intel’s Neuromorphic Computing Lab. “The system enables our research partners to explore ways to accelerate workloads that run slowly today on conventional architectures, including high-performance computing (HPC) systems.”

Intel’s Neuromorphic Chip Can Sniff Out Hazardous Chemicals

Researchers have demonstrated how neuromorphic chips can mimic olfactory senses for use in industrial and medical applications. “In a joint paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence, researchers from Intel Labs and Cornell University demonstrated the ability of Intel’s neuromorphic research chip, Loihi, to learn and recognize hazardous chemicals in the presence of significant noise and occlusion. Loihi learned each odor with just a single sample without disrupting its memory of the previously learned scents. It demonstrated superior recognition accuracy compared to conventional state-of-the-art methods, including a deep learning solution that required 3000x more training samples per class to reach the same level of classification accuracy.”

Podcast: The Evolution of Neuromorphic Computing

Intel’s Mike Davies describes Intel’s Loihi, a neuromorphic research chip that contains over 130,000 “neurons.” “To be sure, neuromorphic computing isn’t biomimicry or about reconstructing the brain in silicon. Rather, it’s about understanding the processes and structures of neuroscience and using those insights to inform research, engineering, and technology.”