The two nations are in a technology race to create a supercomputer that could result in major advances in many fields.
Reported by MIT Technology Review, last month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer called Summit. Thus, a new goal must be set.
The next goal is to create exascale computing-referring to computing systems capable of at least a billion calculations per second in the next few years. With such phenomenal power, it will facilitate industries and enable researchers in many field to expand remarkably. The competition for technological leadership between China and the US started.
China declared their plan to produce one exascale machine by the end of 2020, they have been working on three prototypes of this machine.
The DOE of the US made a proposal worth up to $1.8 billion for two exascale computers between 2021 and 2023.
Both China and America are using all their resource for exascale machines. China has teams working on some 15 application areas, while in the US, teams are working on 25, including applications in fields such as astrophysics and materials science.
Both countries are funding work on software, data processor, energy consumption, and chips for the machine. While there is plenty of national pride behind this competition, it should be kept in mind that, what matters is how it is used to solve the world’s problems. Technology should be developed with ethical standards. It is fortunate that in such a fast pace of development human kind is witnessing, there are institutions are working on moral issues of technology as well. For instance, BGF and MDI are currently developing the AIWS initiative- especially the AIWS 7-Layer Model to ensure the well-being of humans.