Novelty from China Researchers Develop Supercomputer in Refrigerator Format

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Chinese scientists have developed a neuromorphic supercomputer that is only the size of a small refrigerator. The server, which is of interest for AI applications, is said to consume so little energy that it can be operated from a household power socket.

The innovation called "BIE-1 (BI Explorer)" is the first "ultra-compact, mobile, brain-inspired computing device on Earth", writes the Chinese science newspaper Zhongguo Kexue Bao. The researchers have succeeded in "compressing a computer with the performance of a supercomputer into the size of a mini fridge", writes the paper.

Suitable for Use at Home, in Small Offices And on the Move

According to the report, the server, which is interesting for AI applications, is so small and consumes so little energy that it can be operated from a household socket. It was developed by two researchers at the Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology (GDIIST), who also work for two start-ups incubated there.

BIE-1 can be "easily used at home, in small offices and even in mobile environments", writes GDIIST on its website.

Miniaturization Taken A Step Further

This is reminiscent of the vision of Steve Jobs and his first Macintosh, who wanted to bring the then still huge computers out of closed data centers and into people's everyday lives through miniaturization.

What the Apple founder achieved for the world of computers with Neumann architecture, the Chinese computer scientists now want to repeat in the field of neuromorphic computing. "A traditional data center is like a building: it requires high initial investment and consumes a lot of energy," said Nie Lei, co-director of the Joint Laboratory of Intelligent Computing Systems at GDIIST and one of the two inventors. In contrast, his computer, which is based on a self-developed neural network, can be operated via a normal power socket and consumes "only a tenth of the energy of conventional supercomputers", said Nie Lei.

Together with his partner Cai Jiang, he stood on the stage of a scientific symposium on October 26. Between the two men stood their first BIE-1, which reached up to their hips.

The household-sized supercomputer has 1,152 CPU cores, 4.8 terabytes of DDR5 RAM and a storage capacity of 204 terabytes.

AI Enables Enormous Computing Power

Although the term "supercomputer" is not precisely defined and is therefore elastic, hardware bearing this label is usually not available for less than ten million euros.

According to Nie Lei and Cai Jiang, they have programmed a new AI algorithm that gives the neural network in the BIE-1 a computing power that can compete with "traditional supercomputers".

"On a single CPU node, it completed training with 10 billion tokens in just 30 hours, with training and inference speeds of 100,000 and 500,000 tokens per second respectively," writes the science journal.

For comparison: Nvidia's flagship server Blackwell GB200 NVL72 advertises an inference speed of 1.5 million tokens per second.

The energy efficiency of the new computer is also remarkable: while conventional AI computers consume a lot of power, among other things for cooling, the new BIE-1 is so economical that it never exceeds a CPU temperature of 158 °F, even under full load.

Supercomputer at A Bargain Price

Although the scientists are also pursuing commercial interests and represent two start-ups that emerged from the research institute, they want to make their BIE-1, dubbed the Mini-Fridge Server by the Chinese press, available to other researchers and students free of charge. Above all, they hope that it will be useful for AI applications in medical research, said a GDIIST spokesperson.

According to the scientist and entrepreneur, an "Enterprise" edition will be sold to companies for around 3.5 million yuan (around $493,000). That would be a bargain price and something of a minor sensation in the supercomputer sector if the performance figures given by the inventors of their computer can be independently confirmed.

Experts Are Impressed

Chinese and foreign experts were impressed in their initial reactions. "If the BIE-1 delivers on even half of its performance promises, it would be a significant step forward for neuromorphic computing and Chinese AI hardware," writes Tom's Hardware.

"The release of the BIE-1 marks the beginning of a new era of mobile personal supercomputing—characterized by miniaturization, energy efficiency, customization, accessibility and widespread use," the Chinese science newspaper quoted Zhang Xu, director of GDIIST and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Steve Jobs sends his regards.

Henrik Bork, long-time China correspondent for Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau, is Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a consulting agency based in Beijing that specializes in China.

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