AI chips come in two main flavors: training chips and inference chips, and they’re as different as a chef making pizza and you scarfing it down at 2 AM. Let me explain:
- Training Chips: These are the master chefs of the AI world. They knead the dough, slice the toppings, and spend HOURS perfecting the recipe. Think of them as the Gordon Ramsay of silicon—expensive, intense, and always yelling, “More data!” Popular training chips like NVIDIA H100, A100, and Google’s TPUv4 handle all the hard work of teaching AI models to predict, recognize, and wow us.
- Inference Chips: These are the late-night delivery guys. They take that perfected recipe (trained AI model) and deliver hot, ready-to-serve predictions right to your doorstep. Quick, efficient, and optimized for one thing: making sure your AI cravings are satisfied without burning a hole in your wallet—or overheating your hardware. The stars of inference include NVIDIA T4, AWS Inferentia, Intel Movidius, and Qualcomm Snapdragon AI Engine, each designed to ensure smooth, fast delivery of AI predictions.
So, the next time you see a fancy AI demo, remember: the training chips were sweating it out in the kitchen, and the inference chips are the ones serving it fresh with extra cheese. ???