IBM's new brain [News]

Abstract

The TrueNorth neuromorphic chip takes a big step toward using the human brain‚s architecture to reduce computing‚s power consumption. Neuromorphic computer chips meant to mimic the neural network architecture of biological brains have generally fallen short of their wetware counterparts in efficiency-a crucial factor that has limited practical applications for such chips. That could be changing. At a power density of just 20 milliwatts per square centimeter, IBM‚s new brain-inspired chip [above] comes tantalizingly close to such wetware efficiency. The hope is that it could bring brainlike intelligence to the sensors of smartphones, smart cars, and–if IBM has its way–everything else.