Unveiling “Taichi”: Tsinghua University’s Groundbreaking AI Optical Chip

One of the key pillars of artificial intelligence, computing power plays a crucial role in training AI models and performing inference tasks. If we liken large models to intricate dishes, then computing power is akin to a set of well-crafted cooking tools. Developing the next generation of AI chips that combine high computing power with energy efficiency has emerged as a hot topic at the forefront of international research.

Tsinghua University’s research team has pioneered a distributed broad intelligence optical computing architecture and successfully developed the world’s first large-scale interference diffraction heterogeneous integrated chip named “Taichi.” This innovative chip achieves a universal intelligent computation of 160 TOPS/W.

The development process of the “Taichi” optical chip architecture drew inspiration from the classic text “I Ching” (Book of Changes). Taking cues from the phrase “The Changes have the Great Ultimate; it produces the two primary forces,” team members established a novel computing model that unleashes powerful optical computing performance.