Broadcom Jericho3-AI Chip to Wire AI Supercomputers Together Launched

Broadcom's new AI chip can connect up to 32,000 graphics processing unit (GPU) chips together.

By Reuters | Updated: 19 April 2023 13:26 IST

Broadcom Jericho3-AI Chip to Wire AI Supercomputers Together Launched

Broadcom on Tuesday announced a new chip, Jericho3-AI

Highlights

Broadcom is a major supplier of chips for Ethernet switches
Broadcom 's Jericho3-AI can connect up to 32,000 GPU chips together
It will compete with InfiniBand

Broadcom on Tuesday released a new chip for wiring together supercomputers for artificial intelligence (AI) work using networking technology that is already in wide use.

Broadcom is a major supplier of chips for Ethernet switches, which are the primary way the computers inside conventional data centers are connected to one another.

But the rise of AI applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Alphabet's Bard have presented new challenges for the networks inside data centers. In order to respond to questions with human-like answers, such systems must be trained using huge amounts of data.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

That job is far too big for one computer chip to handle. Instead, the job must be split up over thousands of chips called graphics processing units (GPUs), which then have to function like one giant computer to work on the job for weeks or even months at a time. That makes the speed at which the individual chips can communicate important.

Broadcom on Tuesday announced a new chip, Jericho3-AI, which can connect up to 32,000 GPU chips together. The Jericho3-AI chip will compete with another supercomputer networking technology called InfiniBand.

The biggest maker for InfiniBand gear is now Nvidia, which purchased InfiniBand leader Mellanox for $6.9 billion (roughly Rs. 566 crore) in 2019.

Nvidia’s New RTX 4070 Gaming Chip Will Ship With AI Features: All Details

Nvidia is also the market leader in GPUs. While Nvidia-Mellanox systems are some of the fastest supercomputers in the world, many companies are reluctant to give up Ethernet, which is sold by a variety of companies, to buy both their GPUs and networking gear from the same supplier, said Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager of the core switching group at Broadcom.

"Ethernet, you can get it from multiple vendors - there's a lot of competition," Velaga said. "If we don't come out with the best Ethernet switch, somebody else will. InfiniBand is a proprietary, single-source, vertically integrated kind of a solution."

Why Intel Is Discontinuing Its Bitcoin Mining Chip Series

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.