IBM this week announced their new chip prototype that uses a human brain-like architecture. Northpole chips according to IBM are 20 times faster and 25 times more efficient in energy consumption than chips using current architecture.
Current chips require data to be sent between the chip, memory and other devices in the computer which consumes time and energy. This deficiency was named the von Neumann Bottleneck which was solved by Northpole by imitating the neuron system in the brain. At Nortpole the processor and memory are combined once on one chip to speed up the data transfer rate. This also reduces energy wastage.
Northpole, which uses 14 nm technology at this point, is able to match the capabilities of chips and GPUs with 4nm technology that uses existing architecture. It also has 22 billion transistors and 256 CPU cores.
IBM is targeting the use of Northpole chips in the fields of automotive, robotics, virtual assistants and spatial computing. Because it consumes less power, Northpole only requires a conventional fan and heat sink cooling system as opposed to liquid cooling on today's high-performance chips.
In addition to IBM, Samsung also wants to develop a chip with a neuromorphic architectural design similar to the human brain. Until now the development of Samsung's efforts is still unknown.