Supercomputer

A supercomputer is less one big machine than a huge number of computers joined by fast communication lines to work as one. It breaks a big problem into small pieces and solves them at the same time. It has been used for jobs with a huge amount to calculate, such as weather forecasts, climate prediction, finding new drugs and materials, and designing airplanes and cars.

Today, a facility that links tens of thousands of GPUs to train AI is also called a supercomputer. Many countries keep national supercomputers for scientific research and AI development. Another approach being tried puts a quantum computer next to a supercomputer and splits the calculations between them, each taking what it does best.

It is like tens of thousands of people each taking a piece of a puzzle that would take one person a hundred years, and finishing it in a few days.

Which countries and companies own how large a calculating facility has become a yardstick of strength in science and AI. It also appears more and more in quantum computer news.