France’s supercomputer named Jean Zay is known as one of the most powerful computers in the world and is currently ranked 105th in the Top500 list. However, this is not all. Jean Zay is now the world’s first supercomputer with a photonic coprocessor. Well what does it mean?
Unlike conventional processors that use electric current, Jean Zay transmits and processes information using light, thanks to his photonic coprocessor. The company’s photonic coprocessor was added to the Jean Zay supercomputer as part of a pilot program with France’s supercomputers GENCI and IDRIS. This is not only a technological breakthrough, but also represents a first for the industry.
The photonics coprocessor, called LightOn, is scheduled to be used in the next few months for research on machine learning fundamentals, differential privacy, satellite imaging analysis, and natural language processing tasks.
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