A team of researchers at the Allen Institute for AI and UC San Diego have introduced a climate modeling approach boasting 25× speed-ups and associated energy savings over the emulated physics-based model FV3GFS. Specifically, the method takes about 2 hours and 56 minutes to run a 10-year simulation The physics-based FV3GFS model takes about 78 hours…
The emerging materials shaping next-generation semiconductor electronics
The relentless demand for faster, smaller and more efficient electronic devices is finally pushing existing silicon technology to its physical limits. Decades of phenomenal innovation have largely delivered the prophesy of Moore’s Law, which predicts that the number of transistors that can be crammed onto a silicon chip should double every two years, but there…
R&D Market Pulse: Chip wars heat up with TSMC curbing AI chip exports to China as DuPont rides semiconductor surge
The R&D World Index climbed modestly this week thanks to Intel’s substantial gains and strategic expansions in Asia. At the same time, automotive heavyweight Honda faced significant setbacks, highlighting a week of contrasting fortunes in the R&D landscape. The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending November 8, 2024, closed at 3,918.29 for the…
From NVIDIA to SAP: How 25 global AI patent leaders fared in 2024
NVIDIA’s dominance in the AI hardware landscape is undeniable. The company has a solid IP strategy, too, with a portfolio of 273 granted AI patents across seven internationally jurisdictions as of late October 2024. NVIDIA’s stock has soared 187.6% so far this year, driving its market capitalization to $3.43 trillion. In addition, data center segment,…
UK research grant backs Alphawave Semi’s AI network efficiency project
Alphawave Semi has been awarded a research grant from the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA), to remove networking bottlenecks that are limiting AI’s growth. Data from Meta indicates that AI processors can be idle roughly two-fifths of the time waiting for data from the network, wasting costly resources. ARIA is driving a shift toward…
AI in science: How large language models are reshaping research
In a world rapidly adapting to artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and DALL-E are changing the landscape of creativity and communication. Instead of relying on code, users can now interact with these “chatbot” models by asking questions in plain language and receiving instant responses. Yet, while LLMs have already altered how…
Quantum Brilliance joins Oak Ridge National Lab to integrate quantum with HPC
Quantum Brilliance (QB), a company specializing in diamond-based quantum technology, has announced a collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop a platform that integrates quantum computing with high-performance computing (HPC). The project aims to explore the integration of QB’s quantum computing cluster into ORNL’s HPC systems. The collaboration seeks to improve the interaction…
How chiral asymmetry could pave the way for high-efficiency electronics
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy have announced the manipulation of quantum properties of graphene, the single-atom-thick layer of carbon that has captivated researchers for about two decades. In their research, scientists constructed quantum electronic devices using a bespoke configuration of graphene layers: a twisted monolayer–bilayer graphene structure. This setup consists of a single…
New bolometer could enhance quantum circuit analysis by detecting Josephson radiation up to 100 GHz
Josephson junctions are fundamental components in many superconducting quantum devices, including the qubits that form the heart of quantum computers. As the field of quantum computing rapidly advances, understanding and improving the performance of these crucial components becomes a priority. A central challenge lies in detecting and characterizing Josephson radiation, a high-frequency alternating current generated…
New tool accelerates computer simulations across scientific disciplines
Sandia National Laboratories and Brown University researchers have developed a new method to accelerate computer simulations, significantly speeding up research across various scientific fields. It was recently published in the journal npj Computational Materials and presents a universal approach to enhancing the performance of virtually any type of simulation — from researching drugs to sending…
New polarization multiplexer developed for 6G
A team of scientists at the University of Adelaide has developed a novel polarization multiplexer for 6G communications. The researchers note that they succeeded in testing the ultra-wideband integrated terahertz polarization (de)multiplexer on a substrateless silicon base in the sub-terahertz J-band (220-330 GHz). The device shows significant potential for use in 6G and future communication…
This week in R&D: Eli Lilly opens large R&D center in Boston, Cisco cuts 5,900 jobs
The R&D World Index (RDWI) was up 2.91% with Cisco leading at 8.78%, in spite of its lay-off announcement. In the week ending August 16, the index closed at 3878.49 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 2.91% (or 109.53 basis points). Twenty-one RDWI members gained value last week from 0.95%…
The Godfather of AI weighs in on engineering controls for superintelligent AI
Geoffrey Hinton, often hailed as the “Godfather of AI,” sees AI as a sort of Pandora’s box. And he worries that he helped pioneer may be on the verge of getting “smarter than us.” “There are many ways in which this could happen,” he said in a keynote at the AI4 event in Las Vegas.…
NTT Research bets light-based computing can tackles AI’s energy crisis
NTT Research is playing the long game, tackling challenges that others shy away from. While many R&D labs focus on a relatively near-term ROI for research, NTT is more patient, taking a page from storied labs like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC that prioritize bigger, riskier but potentially more transformative bets. Its website declares: “Our…
AMD raises earnings forecast to $4.5B, after continuously doubling revenue; NSC to feds: increase AI spending
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Santa Clara, California, announced last week that its data-center revenue more than doubled year over year, exceeding Wall Street analyst’s estimates. The company also raised its forecast for this year’s sale of AI chips to more than $4.5 billion, an increase of 13% from its forecast three months ago. While this…
How charge density waves could pave the way to faster, more efficient electronic devices
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory report an advance in the quest for energy-efficient computing. Their latest research, published in Physical Review Letters, focuses on charge density waves, wave-like patterns of electrons. Using a novel microscopy technique, the researchers succeeded in manipulating these waves, potentially paving the way for a new generation of supercomputers that sip…
Scientists use neural network to engineer atomic-scale quantum emitter in 2D material
Scientists have engineered a promising new quantum defect using computational modeling. Published in Nature Communications, the research highlights how cobalt, a common metal, could be key to building future quantum computers. The team began by simulating more than 700 potential defects in tungsten disulfide (WS2), a material with desirable electronic properties. To sift through this…
OpenAI unveils SearchGPT test version; Tesla’s humanoid robot to debut in 2025
OpenAI, San Francisco, announced last week that it is launching a test version of their long-awaited search engine. SearchGPT will cite news sources such as News Corp. (publisher of the Wall Street Journal) and the Atlantic magazine (published by the Emerson Collective/publisher is Laurene Jobs — Steve Jobs’s widow). OpenAI has also struck partnerships with…
Imec sets record for lowest charge noise in silicon quantum dots on 300 mm CMOS platform
Imec, a research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, has announced significant progress in the development of 300 mm silicon-based quantum dot spin qubit processing. The devices demonstrated an average charge noise of 0.6 µeV/√Hz at 1 Hz, the lowest values achieved on a 300 mm fab-compatible platform to date. These results are…
EDF, Alice & Bob, Quandela, and CNRS team up to enhance quantum computing efficiency
French electric utility outfit EDF is partnering with quantum computing firms Quandela and the quizzically-named Alice & Bob, alongside the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), to enhance energy consumption in quantum computing. With the support of grant money from the public investment bank Bpifrance, the €6.1M initiative will also compare the energy requirements…
AI takes on weather forecasting with Argonne Lab promising faster, more accurate supercomputer-powered predictions
AI is popping up in more and more contexts these days, including in weather forecasting. At Argonne National Laboratory, in a collaboration with UCLA, researchers are tapping a novel AI approach to potentially deliver more accurate forecasts at a fraction of the computational cost of traditional models. For decades, weather forecasting has relied on complex…
From chiplets to graphene and a second exascale computer, the first half of 2024 continued to push semiconductor limits
Moore’s Law, which predicted the doubling of transistor density roughly every two years, is approaching fundamental physical limits. Yet, GPU technology continues to evolve rapidly, with innovations in architecture and specialized processing units driving consistent performance gains. Multi-chip modules, 3D chip stacking, and advanced cache hierarchies are pushing beyond monolithic die limitations. The first half…
ISSRDC 2024 to feature astronauts, industry leaders to mull low-earth orbit economy
The International Space Station (ISS) continues to be a bustling hub of scientific research with NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt recently completing a spacewalk on June 24. Another is planned for July 2. Against this backdrop of continuous scientific endeavors, the upcoming ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) will focus on the processes…
AI could reshape entire industries but we need to engineer it on a foundation of trust
Project yourself a few years into the future where artificial intelligence (AI) bots negotiate multi-million dollar commodity deals, reshaping entire industries. That’s the vision Teradata CEO Steve McMillan painted during a recent sponsored Reuters webinar titled “Building Trust in AI Starts with Trustworthy Data,” emphasizing that while most companies dabble in AI, true transformation requires…
Nvidia surges to $3 trillion; Apple’s AI Rollout Hits EU snag in this week’s R&D Power Index
The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending June 21, 2024, closed at 3,785.63 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 0.38% (or 14.33 basis points). Eighteen RDWI members gained value last week from 0.44% (Alibaba) to 3.52% (Cisco). Seven RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.02% (Volkswagen…