IBM Announces New Chip Modeled on the Brain

IBM has announced the SyNAPSE neurosynaptic computer chip. The brain-inspired SyNAPSE chip comes with 1 million programmable neurons and 256 million programmable synapses, and according to IBM, the chip is capable of 46 billion synaptic operations per second per watt.
The powerful chip, which includes around 5.4 billion transistors, consumes only 70mW of power – much less than a modern microprocessor. IBM says the new chip is “a neurosynaptic supercomputer the size of a postage stamp that runs on the energy equivalent of a hearing-aid battery.”
The announcement could lead to a whirlwind of new development and discovery in the field of cognitive computers – computers that are modeled directly on the structure of the human brain. Experts believe cognitive systems will someday learn more efficiently and adapt more readily to real-world environments.