Key insights

• ⚙️ Moore's Law leading to exponential growth in computing power is reaching its limits due to the physical constraints of silicon-based electronics
• ⚛️ Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will require vast amounts of computational power and data beyond current technology's capacity
• 💡 Photonics, a technology that uses light for computation, is seen as a potential solution to the limitations of silicon-based electronics
• 🚀 Light-based computing enables faster and more efficient systems, suitable for AI supercomputers
• 🌐 Lightmatter is reinventing computing using light to overcome fundamental challenges in making computers better, faster, and more efficient
• 🔌 Passage, a chip built in 2019, uses an array of 48 maximum size chips stitched together with optical wave guides for manipulating light and encoding information
• 🔆 Lightmatter's technology addresses challenges in data transmission, energy efficiency, and interconnectivity in computer chips by using light instead of electrical wires
• 🔬 Silicon photonics technology has been developed over the past 20 years, with light matter achieving a scale never seen before

Q&A

• What are some of the unique advantages of using light for communication, and how has Lightmatter contributed to this technology?

  Using light instead of electrons offers advantages such as operating in the terahertz regime and enabling parallel communication, which is essential for high-speed and reliable data transfer. Light Matter has achieved advancements in silicon photonics, with the ability to develop parallel communication at high speeds and overcome technical challenges in this groundbreaking technology.

• In what way do advancements in chip design facilitate the development of large language models and next-generation supercomputers?

  Advancements in chip design enable high-speed and low-latency communication, which is essential for the development of large language models and next-generation supercomputers. Light matter's use of new silicon substrate enables data transmission using light, allowing for rapid prototyping and iteration of designs to meet the increasing size and complexity of these models.

• How does light-based computing overcome the current limitations in chip performance and connectivity?

  Light-based computing, by combining traditional electronics with photonics, processes data at the speed of light, bypassing energy loss and delays. This approach addresses the current bottleneck in computing, particularly networking and interconnects, providing a potential solution to overcome chip performance and connectivity limitations.

• What products and technologies is Lightmatter developing to enable light-based computing?

  Lightmatter is working on Passage and Advise, products that make use of optical wave guides and light to enable high-speed communication between processors in data center scale supercomputers. Additionally, they are developing the next generation Passage chip capable of over 100 terabits per second communication using optical wave guides to vastly increase potential bandwidth.

• What are the advantages of light-based computing, and how does it benefit AI supercomputers?

  Light-based computing enables faster and more efficient systems, making it suitable for large-scale AI supercomputers. It provides faster and reliable interconnects while consuming less energy, addressing the challenges in data transmission and energy efficiency crucial for AI supercomputers.

• How is photonics revolutionizing computing, and what is Lightmatter's role in this?

  Photonics, which uses light to transmit data, has the potential to revolutionize computing by offering faster and more energy-efficient processing compared to traditional silicon-based electronics. Lightmatter is pioneering the integration of photonic components directly into computer chips, enabling a new method of chip communication that could lead to AGI and large-scale AI supercomputers.

• What is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and how does it relate to the limitations of current technology?

  AGI refers to AI that can demonstrate human-level understanding and performance across a wide range of tasks. It requires vast amounts of computational power and data beyond the capacity of current technology, contributing to the need for more efficient and powerful computational systems.

• What is Moore's Law, and why is it reaching its limits?

  Moore's Law describes the trend of exponential growth in computing power, mainly driven by the increasing number of transistors that can be placed on a chip. However, it is reaching its limits due to the physical constraints of silicon-based electronics, which cannot sustain the pace of growth in processing power.

• 00:01 The era of exponential growth in computing power, driven by Moore's Law, is reaching its limits due to the physical constraints of silicon-based electronics. The future of computation may lie in photonics, which uses light to transmit data and has the potential to revolutionize AI and chip communication.
• 03:25 AGI or artificial general intelligence refers to AI capable of human-level understanding and performance. Light matter is working on reinventing computing using light to overcome fundamental challenges in making computers better, faster, and more efficient. Light-based computing enables faster and reliable interconnects and consumes less energy, making it suitable for large-scale AI supercomputers.
• 06:42 A company called Lightmatter is working on photonics technology to enable computer chips to use light for faster and more efficient data processing. Their products, Passage and Advise, make use of optical wave guides and light to enable high-speed communication between processors in data center scale supercomputers. They are also developing the next generation Passage chip capable of over 100 terabits per second communication.
• 10:19 Computing chip combines traditional electronics with photonics to process data at the speed of light, bypassing energy loss and delays. Networking and interconnects are the current bottleneck in computing. Light-based computing is a potential solution to overcome current limitations in chip performance and connectivity.
• 13:26 Advancements in chip design enable high-speed and low-latency communication, facilitating the development of large language models and next-generation supercomputers. Light matter utilizes new silicon substrate to enable data transmission using light, allowing for rapid prototyping and iteration of designs.
• 16:44 Silicon photonics enables parallel communication at high speeds with millions of optical components on a chip. Using light instead of electrons offers advantages such as operating in the terahertz regime and parallel communication. Light Matter overcame technical challenges to develop this groundbreaking technology.