Earlier quoted context omitted.
For historical precedent see Xerox Parc.
IBM, Intel, Apple's Newton.
Kodak
Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
61–70 of 197 posts
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#62> However, although tensors describe the relationship between arbitrary higher-dimensional arrays, in practice the TPU hardware that we will consider is designed to perform calculations associated with one and two-dimensional arrays. Or, more specifically, vector and matrix operations. I still don’t understand why the term “tensor” is used if it’s only vectors and matrices.
(I think) technically, all of these mathematical objects are tensors of different ranks:
0. Scalar numbers are tensors of rank 0.
1. Vectors (eg velocity, acceleration in intro high school physics) are tensors of rank 1.
2. Matrices that you learn in intro linear anlgebra are tensors of rank 2. Nested arrays 1 level deep, aka a 2d array.
0. Tensors numbers are tensors of rank 3 or higher. I explain this as ‘nested arrays’ to people with programming backgrounds as nested arrays of arrays with 3dimensions of arrays or higher.
But I’m mostly self-taught in math so ymmv.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#63Googler here, if you haven’t looked at TPUs in a while check out the v5. They support PyTorch/JAX now, makes them much easier to use than TF only.
Where can I buy a TPU v5 to install in my server? If the answer is “cloud”: that’s why NVidia is wiping the floor.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#64How is it that Google invented the TPU and Google Research came up with the paper on LLM and NVDA and AI startup companies have captured ~100% of the value
There's an old joke explanation about Xerox and PARC, about the difficulty of "pitching a 'paperless office' to a photocopier company".
In Google's case, an example analogy would be pitching making something like ChatGPT widely available, when that would disrupt revenue from search engine paid placements, and from ads on sites that people wouldn't need to visit. (So maybe someone says, better to phase it in subtly, as needed for competitiveness, but in non-disruptive ways.)
I doubt it's as simple as that, but would be funny if that was it.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#65Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#66Googler here, if you haven’t looked at TPUs in a while check out the v5. They support PyTorch/JAX now, makes them much easier to use than TF only.
Where can I buy a TPU v5 to install in my server? If the answer is “cloud”: that’s why NVidia is wiping the floor.
You probably can't even rent them from Google if you wanted to, in my experience.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#67Googler here, if you haven’t looked at TPUs in a while check out the v5. They support PyTorch/JAX now, makes them much easier to use than TF only.
Where can I buy a TPU v5 to install in my server? If the answer is “cloud”: that’s why NVidia is wiping the floor.
How many people are out there buying H100s for their personal use?
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re seeming to imply the number of instructions available is what distinguishes CISC, but it never has been.
Guys....what are the instructions? The on-chip memory they are talking about is essentially...a big register set. So we have load from main memory into registers, store from registers into main memory, multiply matrices--source and dest are stored in registers.... We have a 20 instruction, load-store cpu....how is this not RISC? At least RISC how we used the term in 1995?
Its design follows the old idea that an ISA should be designed for assembly programmers; that instructions should implement complex or higher-level functions intended for a programmer to use directly.
RISC rejected that notion (among other things) and focused on designing ISAs for a compiler to target when compiling high level languages, without wasting silicon on instructions a compiler cannot easily use. For the TPU, a compiler cannot easily take a 256x256 matrix multiply written in a high-level language like C and emit a Matrix_Multiply instruction.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#69How is it that Google invented the TPU and Google Research came up with the paper on LLM and NVDA and AI startup companies have captured ~100% of the value
Pretty sure it is because if ChatGPT likes would update as frequently as google website index it would render search engines like google obsolete and thus make their revenue nonexistent.
Re: Google's First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
IBM, Intel, Apple's Newton.
Kodak
Man I remember my last semester of college taking a history of photography course that was only offered every 3-4 years by a pretty legendary professor. The the day before the first day of class (or super close), Eastman Kodak declared bankruptcy after what? 110 years?
He scrapped his day 1 lecture and threw together a talk - with photos of course - about Kodak and how an intrepid engineer developed then the company foolishly hid the first digital camera because it would compete with their film line.
Incredible lecturer for sure haha