One of the more significant architectural advancements in Intels new Xeon scalable processor, aka Skylake, is the use of a mesh interconnect thatlink cores and other on-chip componentry.

After already shipping more than half a million of its next-generation Xeon products to customers, Intel officially launched its new Xeon scalable processor product line. The chipmaker is calling it the biggest data center advancement in a decade.

Japanese computer-maker Fujitsu is developing an AI-specific microprocessor called the Deep Learning Unit (DLU). The companys goal is to produce a chip that delivers 10 times better performance per watt than the competition.

Mellanox has entered new territory with its recently announced Spectrum-2 line of Ethernet switches, which supports speeds of 200 gigabits per second and beyond.

Episode 184: Addison Snell and Michael Feldman discuss the Spectrum-2 announcement from Mellanox and Atos' quantum simulator.

Chinese web giant Baidu announced it will use some of the latest NVIDIA hardware and software to augment a number of its AI-based services.

With universal quantum computers on the horizon, Atos has developed a simulation platform for programming the qubit-based machines.

The Jlich Supercomputing Center (JSC) has kicked off DEEP-EST, an EU-funded project that aims to build a supercomputer capable of handling both high performance computing and high performance data analytics workloads.

For all the supercomputing trends revealed on recent TOP500 lists, the most worrisome is the decline in performance growth that has taken place over the over the last several years worrisome not only because performance is the lifeblood of the HPC industry, but also because there is no definitive cause of the slowdown.

Episode 183: Addison Snell and Michael Feldman dissect Europe's plans for an Exascale system, and contemplate the uses of IBM's low-power TrueNorth chip in its announced U.S. Air Force application.