Chinese supercomputer leapfrogs best US machines to be ranked world’s fastest
A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful. It is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation’s technological prowess.
The LineShine computer in Shenzhen displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the Top500 rankings released on Tuesday. It was LineShine’s debut on the list.
China’s LineShine differs from other high-performance computers in that it runs entirely on conventional computer chips (CPUs), instead of the graphics processors (GPUs), commonly used for AI. It requires about 42.2 megawatts of electricity to operate, according to the list.
Supercomputers, which are more than 1,000 times faster than a regular computer, can be used to hunt for medical breakthroughs, model climate systems, simulate nuclear explosions, predict human behaviour and perform virtual weapons testing.
Scientists involved in the Top500 project said LineShine at China’s National Supercomputing Center achieved 2.198 exaflops, meaning it can perform more than 2 quintillion calculations per second.
El Capitan, at the US government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, now ranks second, ahead of two other US supercomputers at national laboratories in Tennessee and Illinois.
Dropping to fifth place is the Jupiter supercomputer in Germany. The five are the only publicly verified exascale computers in the world.
Other countries with machines in the top 10 include Italy, Switzerland and Japan.
The UK has 11 machines in the list of 500. The University of Bristol’s Isambard-AI is highest ranked of that group at 11, down two places since the last ranking. Isambard-AI, fitted with 5,400 Nvidia “superchips”, sits inside a black metal cage topped with razor wire.
Western Australia’s Setonix – ranked 86th – is the best performing of the four machines located in Australia.
Last year the EU revealed a €20bn (£17bn) plan to build sites equipped with vast supercomputers to develop the next generation of AI models, as Europe attempts to catch leaders in the US and China.
The AI “gigafactories” will target “moonshot” innovations in areas such as healthcare, biotech, industry, robotics and scientific discovery.
The best-performing AI factories have supercomputers equipped with up to 25,000 advanced AI processors, but a gigafactory would exceed 100,000 AI processors, the EU strategy document said.
These power-hungry facilities, which can require huge amounts of water for cooling, should run “as much as possible” on a green energy supply, an EU official said, with plans for “recycling” water if it was used.
Campaigners fear power-hungry datacentres could undermine Europe’s climate ambitions.
Additional reporting by Jennifer Rankin, Robert Booth and Associated Press
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
A supercomputer located in Shenzhen, China has achieved the highest performance ranking in the Top500 list of the world's most powerful computers, displacing the US El Capitan system. LineShine reached 2.198 exaflops—performing over 2 quintillion calculations per second—and operates using conventional CPU chips rather than graphics processors. This marks the first time since 2017 that a Chinese system has held the top position. El Capitan now ranks second, alongside two other US systems in the top five. Globally, only five exascale computers are publicly verified. The European Union has announced a €20 billion investment to develop supercomputing facilities for advanced AI research, aiming to strengthen its competitive position in high-performance computing infrastructure.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful. It is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation’s technological prowess.
The LineShine computer in Shenzhen displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the Top500 rankings released on Tuesday. It was LineShine’s debut on the list.
China’s LineShine differs from other high-performance computers in that it runs entirely on conventional computer chips (CPUs), instead of the graphics processors (GPUs), commonly used for AI. It requires about 42.2 megawatts of electricity to operate, according to the list.
Supercomputers, which are more than 1,000 times faster than a regular computer, can be used to hunt for medical breakthroughs, model climate systems, simulate nuclear explosions, predict human behaviour and perform virtual weapons testing.
Scientists involved in the Top500 project said LineShine at China’s National Supercomputing Center achieved 2.198 exaflops, meaning it can perform more than 2 quintillion calculations per second.
El Capitan, at the US government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, now ranks second, ahead of two other US supercomputers at national laboratories in Tennessee and Illinois.
Dropping to fifth place is the Jupiter supercomputer in Germany. The five are the only publicly verified exascale computers in the world.
Other countries with machines in the top 10 include Italy, Switzerland and Japan.
The UK has 11 machines in the list of 500. The University of Bristol’s Isambard-AI is highest ranked of that group at 11, down two places since the last ranking. Isambard-AI, fitted with 5,400 Nvidia “superchips”, sits inside a black metal cage topped with razor wire.
Western Australia’s Setonix – ranked 86th – is the best performing of the four machines located in Australia.
Last year the EU revealed a €20bn (£17bn) plan to build sites equipped with vast supercomputers to develop the next generation of AI models, as Europe attempts to catch leaders in the US and China.
The AI “gigafactories” will target “moonshot” innovations in areas such as healthcare, biotech, industry, robotics and scientific discovery.
The best-performing AI factories have supercomputers equipped with up to 25,000 advanced AI processors, but a gigafactory would exceed 100,000 AI processors, the EU strategy document said.
These power-hungry facilities, which can require huge amounts of water for cooling, should run “as much as possible” on a green energy supply, an EU official said, with plans for “recycling” water if it was used.
Campaigners fear power-hungry datacentres could undermine Europe’s climate ambitions.
Additional reporting by Jennifer Rankin, Robert Booth and Associated Press
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
LineShine in Shenzhen displaced El Capitan as the top-ranked supercomputer in the Top500 list released Tuesday This is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped the rankings LineShine achieved 2.198 exaflops and runs on conventional CPU chips rather than GPUs LineShine requires approximately 42.2 megawatts of electricity to operate El Capitan (US), plus systems in Tennessee and Illinois, round out the top supercomputers Only five exascale computers are publicly verified globally The Top500 rankings are sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation's technological prowess The EU's €20 billion supercomputing investment aims to help Europe catch leaders in the US and China Power-hungry datacentres could undermine Europe's climate ambitions
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
- China's LineShine supercomputer has become the world's fastest, displacing the US El Capitan in Top500 rankings released Tuesday
- LineShine achieved 2.198 exaflops and is the first Chinese machine to top the list since 2017; it uses conventional CPU chips rather than GPUs
- Only five exascale supercomputers are publicly verified globally; the EU is investing €20bn to build AI supercomputing facilities to compete with US and China