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IBM’s new AI chip offers 22X speedup with ‘mind-blowing’ energy efficiency

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Coin Telegraph

The team’s already years into work on the next version of the potentially revolutionary NorthPole hardware.

IBM recently debuted a new prototype artificial intelligence (AI) chip purported to be both faster and far more energy efficient than any chip currently available.

According to research published in Science Magazine on Oct. 19, the new chip, dubbed NorthPole, “achieves a 25 times higher energy metric” on a relevant benchmark, “and a 22 times lower time metric of latency.”

Ostensibly, this translates to the potential for post-GPU performance at a fraction of the cost in energy requirements.

Damien Querlioz, a nanoelectronics researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay in Palaiseau, described NorthPole’s energy efficiency as “mind-blowing,” in an article published on Nature.

Per the IBM Research team’s paper:

“NorthPole outperforms all prevalent architectures, even those that use more-advanced technology processes.”

One of the major impediments to improving AI processing is called the “von Neumann bottleneck.” Using currently available architecture, AI chips tend to have faster processing capabilities than the memory they require to run processes. As a result, latency is introduced whenever information is sent between the processing unit and random access memory.

This is especially true at “the edge,” where chips and data are stored together. Removing this bottleneck has long been considered by many experts to be the key to running powerful neural networks locally on devices.

Publishing this week in @ScienceMagazine, IBM Research's newest prototype AI chip, NorthPole, could help us move toward more energy-efficient AI. Learn more: https://t.co/qyKIUGg5ld pic.twitter.com/eFklLNSqkW
— IBM Research (@IBMResearch) October 19, 2023

According to IBM Research, the new prototype chip built in the company’s Alamaden, California laboratory bypasses the von Neumann bottleneck by, essentially, integrating the memory component onto the processing chip itself.

As the chip’s lead developer, Dharmendra Modha, puts it, NorthPole is “an entire network on a chip” that “forges a completely different path from the von Neumann architecture.”

“The NorthPole chip on a PCIe card.” Image source: IBM Research

The benchmark used to demonstrate the chip’s effectiveness, ResNet50, is a 50-layer neural network primarily used to test computer vision tasks such as image classification.

The NorthPole hardware’s reported results on this benchmark indicate that it could perform exceptionally well at associated tasks such as autonomous surgery, operation of self-driving cars and other vehicles, and numerous robotics-related endeavors.

IBM Research is already years into research on the next chip using the NorthPole architecture. According to the company blog, “this is just the start of the work for Modha on NorthPole.”

Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index updated to reflect hardware distribution and hash rate increases

August 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Cambridge researchers have revised the widely cited index in response to evidence indicating periodic overestimation of Bitcoin mining’s electricity consumption.

Researchers behind the well-known Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) have officially revised its methodology to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the Index’s estimates for the first time since its inception in 2019.

The CBECI was launched in July 2019 in an effort to provide reliable data-driven insights to questions about Bitcoin mining’s energy-intensive nature and associated environmental impact.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph ahead of announcement of the revision, head researcher Alexander Neumueller unpacked the Index’s role in providing a relatively accurate estimate of the Bitcoin (BTC) network’s electricity consumption and contextualizing the data in a way that is digestible for the layman on the street.

Key takeaways from the revised methodology included a focus on recent developments in Bitcoin mining hardware and hash rate and whether the CBECI was accurately reflecting the changing landscape. The researchers honed in on questions about what had driven substantial increases in hash rate in recent years as newer mining equipment eclipsed older models in computing power.

Neumueller and his fellow researchers noted that the scarcity of hardware-related data posed a significant challenge as it limited the CBECI’s ability to accurately assess the types of hardware that miners use as well as their ubiquity.

This led the researchers to create a methodology that simulates a daily hardware distribution based on performance and power usage data of real hardware. Neumeuller notes that the backbone of the previous CBECI methodology assumed that every profitable hardware model released less than five years ago equally fuelled the total network hashrate.

This in turn led to a “disproportionally large number” of older mining hardware compared to newer models in the methodology’s assumed hardware distribution during exceptionally profitable mining periods.

The researchers subsequently discovered that more recently released equipment appeared to be underrepresented while equipment nearing the end of its life cycle was overrepresented. This prompted the change in the CBECI methodology.

Neumeller then explained how his team began comparing hashrate increases with United States import data reflecting recent Bitcoin mining hardware deliveries. This was combined with an examination of publicly available sales data from mining hardware manufacturer Canaan.

CBECI looked at U.S. import records on Bitcoin mining equipment (left) and estimated computing power derived from import data (right). Researchers used the hash rate (in TH/s) and gross weight stated by the manufacturer and applied an equally weighted mix of the following models from Canaan’s Avalon A1246, Avalon A1266, Avalon A1346 and Avalon A1366.

The analysis, which considered a number of in-depth factors, was used to test the hypothesis that increases in network hash rate can be attributed to more recently released mining hardware.

“This hypothesis was based on U.S. import data, and we sought additional evidence to validate it. If Canaan's sales data is representative of the industry, it corroborates this claim.”

Neumueller highlighted a divide in opinion, with critics suggesting that Bitcoin “jeopardizes environmental advancements and could exacerbate climate change,” while supporters argue that the mining industry could combat climate change and provide other societal benefits.

“However, the intricate nature of the industry and the lack of information are often under-recognised, making room for cherry-picked data points and biased perspectives.”

The CBECI includes a wide range of rich data points and visualizations, including the index’s Bitcoin network power demand, a mining map reflecting the geographic distribution of Bitcoin’s mining hash rate, and a greenhouse gas emissions index.

The CBECI and greenhouse gas emissions indexes provide three different estimates for both sectors, providing a hypothetical range for these specific metrics.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

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Crypto community reacts to Ledger wallet’s secret recovery phrase service

May 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Many members of the crypto community believe Ledger’s latest seed phrase recovery feature is a bad idea.

Several crypto community members, including Ledger wallet owners, have taken to social media to express their discontent following the release of Ledger’s latest feature. The newly introduced retrieval solution for its hardware crypto wallets, known as Ledger Recover, aims to offer a safeguard in case users misplace their seed phrase.

Exciting update, Ledger has a new product, Ledger Recover, that’s launching soon: https://t.co/nT1VHnnSYz

Here’s what Ledger Recover is and what it isn’t, explained by @P3b7_ & in the thread below. pic.twitter.com/RW1w07H6pK
— Ledger (@Ledger) May 16, 2023

Ledger Recover is a subscription service that allows users to utilize an additional layer of protection for their private keys. This service employs a technique where the user’s seed phrase is divided into three encrypted fragments, each sent to different external entities. Once these fragments are combined and decrypted, they can be used to reconstruct the original seed phrase.

The wallet provider shared that Ledger Recover is an optional subscription for users who want to back up their secret recovery phrase. “You don’t have to use it, and can continue managing your recovery phrase yourself if that’s why you bought a Ledger,” the company explained.

Nevertheless, the concept has enraged many in the crypto community, including security specialists.

Mudit Gupta, the chief information security officer at Polygon Labs, shared, “It’s a horrendous idea, DON’T enable this feature.” Gupta expanded further in his Twitter thread that “[t]he problem here is that the encrypted keys parts are sent to 3 corporations and they can reconstruct your keys.”

The problem here is not splitting the key in 3 parts. That's actually good! I may or may not be doing that personally as well :)

The problem here is that the encrypted keys parts are sent to 3 corporations and they can reconstruct your keys.
— Mudit Gupta (@Mudit__Gupta) May 16, 2023

Founder and CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao chimed in on Gupta’s thread, saying, “So the seed can leave the device now? Sounds like a different direction than ‘your keys never leave the device.'”

So the seed can leave the device now?

Sounds like a different direction than "your keys never leave the device". ‍♂️
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 16, 2023

Bitcoin (BTC) investor and podcaster Chris Dunn shared, “First they exposed mailing address, phone numbers, and email addresses of their customers. [...] And now they’ve put a back door into seed phrases. It’s time to say goodbye to Ledger,“ referencing the Ledger data leak that exposed users’ information in 2020.

First they exposed mailing address, phone numbers, and email addresses of their customers…

And now they’ve put a back door into seed phrases.

It’s time to say goodbye to @Ledger ✌️ https://t.co/FsZw1jUt6h
— Chris Dunn (@ChrisDunnTV) May 16, 2023

Crypto investor DCinvestor also referenced Ledger’s previous data leak that left users exposed and vulnerable, saying, “reminder that several years ago, Ledger leaked the name and home addresses for all of their customers via a data breach. [T]he absolute last thing you want on their servers is your private key.”

reminder that several years ago, Ledger leaked the name and home addresses for all of their customers via a data breach

the absolute last thing you want on their servers is your private key https://t.co/z89xxLS6ie
— DCinvestor (@iamDCinvestor) May 16, 2023

Bitcoin investor and entrepreneur Alistair Milne shared, “Sure, you *could* use Ledger’s new ‘Recover’ service and give them [...] your private keys controlling your assets as well as a copy of your ID and other personal information. [...] But why then bother with a hardware wallet in the first place?” His post suggested that Ledger’s latest recovery service undermines the whole point of self-custody via a hard wallet.

Sure, you *could* use Ledger's new 'Recover' service and give them the your private keys controlling your assets as well as a copy of your ID and other personal information...

... but why then bother with a hardware wallet in the first place? pic.twitter.com/ZI39B01gFV
— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) May 16, 2023

In April, Ledger launched the Ledger Nano S Plus, a specialized wallet tailored to nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The Ledger Nano S Plus aims to enhance user safety and deliver an improved experience for Web3 customers who routinely trade NFTs. This development followed Ledger’s recent integration of “clear signing” technology through Ledger Live, further bolstering user security measures.

Established in 2014, Ledger has become a prominent global player in the realm of hardware cryptocurrency wallets. The company has reportedly sold an estimated 4.5 million wallets and introduced six distinct wallet models.

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