China develops advanced brain-like computer

Chinese researchers have developed a brain-like computer with over 100 million neurons, the first of its kind in China.

Researchers of Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Lab of Zhejiang Province jointly introduced the newly developed computer named Darwin Mouse, reports Xinhua.

There are 792 second-generation brain-like Darwin chips in the high-tech device developed by Zhejiang University, said Zhu Shiqiang, director of Zhejiang Lab.

It supports 120 million spiking neurons and nearly 100 billion synapses, which are equivalent to the number of neurons in the brain of a mouse.

The average power consumption of the computer comes in at only 350-500 watts.

Pan Gang, leader of the research team, said "just like building blocks, we integrated the 792 brain-like computing chips into three standard server chassis to form a powerful rack-mounted brain-like computer."

The team also developed an operating system specifically designed for brain-like computers, named Darwin OS, which realizes effective management and scheduling of the hardware resources and supports operations and applications of brain-like computers.