×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ

Technology

AI chip smaller than a grain of salt uses light to decode data

A tiny chip on the tip of a fibre-optic cable can passively harness light to perform AI computations, dramatically reducing the amount of energy and computing power required

By Jeremy Hsu

7 February 2025

A chip on the end of an optical fibre

University of Shanghai for Science and Technology in China

An artificial intelligence chip smaller than a grain of salt can perch at the end of an optical fibre, harnessing the physics of light to process the information passed through the fibre – while using far less energy and computational power than typical AI techniques.

Optical fibres can carry data at the speed of light, but decoding these light signals usually happens on a slower and more energy-intensive external computing device. The new AI chip could perform that data-processing task more quickly while…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with ×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop