AI Computing Hardware - Past, Present, and Future
AI Computing Hardware - Past, Present, and Future  
Podcast: Last Week in AI
Published On: Wed Jan 29 2025
Description: A special one-off episode with a deep dive into the past, present, and future of how computer hardware makes AI possible. Join our brand new Discord here! https://discord.gg/nTyezGSKwP Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/. Sponsors: The Generator - An interdisciplinary AI lab empowering innovators from all fields to bring visionary ideas to life by harnessing the capabilities of artificial intelligence. In this episode:  - Google and Mistral sign deals with AP and AFP, respectively, to deliver up-to-date news through their AI platforms.  - ChatGPT introduces a tasks feature for reminders and to-dos, positioning itself more as a personal assistant.  - Synthesia raises $180 million to enhance its AI video platform for generating videos of human avatars.  - New U.S. guidelines restrict exporting AI chips to various countries, impacting Nvidia and other tech firms. If you would like to become a sponsor for the newsletter, podcast, or both, please fill out this form. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:08 Historical Recap: Early AI and Hardware 00:11:51 The Rise of GPUs and Deep Learning 00:15:39 Scaling Laws and the Evolution of AI Models 00:24:05 The Bitter Lesson and the Future of AI Compute 00:25:58 Moore's Law and Huang's Law 00:30:12 Memory and Logic in AI Hardware 00:34:53 Challenges in AI Hardware: The Memory Wall 00:37:08 The Role of GPUs in Modern AI 00:42:27 Fitting Neural Nets in GPUs 00:48:04 Batch Sizes and GPU Utilization 00:52:47 Parallelism in AI Models 00:55:53 Matrix Multiplications and GPUs 00:59:57 Understanding B200 and GB200 01:05:41 Data Center Hierarchy 01:13:42 High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 01:16:45 Fabrication and Packaging 01:20:17 The Complexity of Semiconductor Fabrication 01:24:34 Understanding Process Nodes 01:28:26 The Art of Fabrication 01:33:17 The Role of Yield in Fabrication 01:35:47 The Photolithography Process 01:40:38 Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) 01:43:58 Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) 01:51:46 Export Controls and Their Impact 01:54:22 The Rise of Custom AI Hardware 02:00:10 The Future of AI and Hardware