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A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful, which 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, China, displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the latest version of the TOP500 ranking announced Tuesday. It was the Chinese computer’s debut on the list.
However, there were four European supercomputers in the top 10. Dropping to fifth place is the Jupiter supercomputer in Germany.
Supercomputers are especially useful for researchers who want to collect and analyse data, as they can perform complex calculations much quicker, allowing them to address some of the world’s most intricate problems, such as drug discovery, climate and weather forecasts, or modelling black holes.
One of the most interesting use cases for the supercomputer is that it is key to developing models used in artificial intelligence (AI).
What makes China’s offering so special?
Scientists behind the TOP500 project said the LineShine computer 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. The five are the only publicly verified exascale computers in the world.
LineShine differs from other high-performance computers by running entirely on conventional computer chips, or CPUs, instead of the graphics processors, or GPUs, commonly used for artificial intelligence. It relies on approximately 42.2 megawatts of electricity to operate, according to TOP500.
Meanwhile, China’s Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday defended the country’s technological advancements as an opportunity for the world rather than a threat.
Li also said the country’s heavy state subsidies were not the main reason for the rapid rise of its high-tech industries, at a time when Western officials have complained that China’s state support for industries from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles has provided an unfair competitive edge.
China’s No. 2 leader made the remarks in his speech at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as the “Summer Davos,” held this week in the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Dalian.
He acknowledged there have been growing global concerns about China’s technological innovations, with some pointing to the term “China Shock 2.0,” as they see the nation’s high-tech boom as a threat to many advanced economies.
Instead, that should be seen as “China Opportunity 2.0,” he said.
“From the global development perspective, ‘China Opportunity 2.0’ means there’ll be broader access to advanced technologies and more widely shared benefits,” Li said.
Where does Europe stand?
The five are the only publicly verified exascale computers in the world, which, though it sounds impressive, is actually just a measure of speed and how many operations per second the supercomputer can perform.
Other countries with machines in the top 10 list include Italy, Switzerland, and Japan. In the top 20, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom made the list.
Last year, the European Union unveiled a €20bn plan to build sites with supercomputers to develop the next generation of AI models with so-called AI gigafactories, which would link collaboration across supercomputing centres, universities and businesses.