[Subtitle News] "How Did They Do It Despite Nvidia Chip Export Bans?" China Builds World's Fastest Supercomputer Without a Single GPU

The massive computing system 'Rainshine,' built in Shenzhen, China, has claimed the title of the world's fastest supercomputer.

This marks the first time in nine years since 2017 that China has overtaken the United States to reclaim the top spot.

According to The New York Times, researchers from the 'Top500' project, which ranks supercomputers, visited the local center to verify the system. They found that Rainshine’s computing speed is more than 20% faster than 'El Capitan' at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the U.S., which had previously held the number one position.

The system is massive, featuring 14 million cores housed in 90 hardware cabinets.

What is particularly noteworthy is its technical design.

While most cutting-edge supercomputers today rely heavily on Nvidia's Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Rainshine operates entirely on standard microprocessors, or CPUs, without the use of any GPUs.

It utilizes chips independently designed based on technology from the British semiconductor design firm Arm.

Dr. Jack Dongarra, who led the verification, evaluated the achievement by stating, "They surpassed the U.S. with a design that does not rely on GPUs," adding that it is "an impressive way to combine AI with traditional scientific research."

The U.S. has been strictly controlling the export of high-performance AI chips and GPUs to curb China's technological advancement.

However, as China has successfully completed the world's fastest supercomputer using general-purpose CPUs—which are not subject to sanctions—calls are growing within the U.S. to impose stricter controls on the export and manufacturing of CPUs targeting China.

Rainshine is currently being put to full use in advanced scientific research that requires high-precision mathematical calculations, such as sophisticated simulations of the Earth's climate—covering the atmosphere, oceans, and glaciers—as well as human brain simulations.

Until now, China had refrained from officially submitting its supercomputer performance test results, mindful of U.S. scrutiny.

Experts predict that as China begins to showcase its technical prowess again through civilian-led development, the digital hegemony competition between the U.S. and China will enter a new phase.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Seo Byeong-uk | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.