Innovative computing concepts challenging traditional architectures, new papers being published at a rate of 16 per day, startups attracting investors’ money, new chips hitting the market: the energies unleashed by neural network-based AI (artificial intelligence) spell exciting times for the IT and semiconductor industries. A good example of this climate was offered by the 2019 Linley Fall Processor Conference (Santa Clara, CA, October 23^th and 24^th), organized by the technology analysis firm Linley Group: the event attracted hundreds of attendees and required two parallel tracks – on day one – to accommodate all sponsors. Most speakers addressed AI-related themes, particularly the quest for new processing architectures boosting energy efficiency and speed as required by upcoming AI applications. Some speakers, however, touched other topics such as 5G and traditional architectures. Here is a quick overview of some of the presentations.

Linley Gwennap at the 2019 Linley Fall Processor Conference. Image credit: Marcus Araiza -Atlas Studios Bay Area