Purdue launches AI chip technology institute
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Purdue University’s College of Engineering has launched an institute to advance chip technology for artificial intelligence applications.
The Institute of Chips and AI has a twofold mission, according to the university: Develop innovative technology to address the complexities and costs associated with the development of semiconductor chips and AI but also leverage AI itself to improve the chip design process.
“The AI revolution began in 2012, fueled by advances in hardware, algorithms and data,” Kaushik Roy, a Purdue electrical and computer engineering professor and co-director of the institute, said in a news release. “Today, as model sizes grow exponentially, energy demands are reaching critical limits. The synergy of AI-driven chip design and chips optimized for AI promises transformative leaps in cognitive computing.”
Purdue launched the institute Nov. 19 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. Representatives from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Microsoft, Meta, Google and other technology companies spoke at the event.
The other co-director of the institute is fellow Purdue electrical and computer engineering professor Anand Raghunathan, the news release said.
The university did not mention other specifics about the institute. Inside INdiana Business has reached out to Purdue for more information.
The institute is the latest Purdue initiative tied to the semiconductor industry.
Earlier this year Purdue was named the lead academic institution of a $285 million U.S. Department of Commerce effort to establish a national institute centered on semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging, Inside INdiana Business reported.
A Purdue University-led team will receive $21 million over four years from the Bloomington-based Applied Research Institute to advance artificial intelligence hardware.
Purdue in the past year has signed partnership agreements with Panama, India and the Dominican Republic to foster semiconductor education and training.
And Purdue and South Korea-based semiconductor chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. have announced plans to establish a nearly $4 billion advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility for microelectronics in West Lafayette.
“The Institute of Chips and AI joins a host of other Purdue institutes and centers focused on building world-leading programs in physical AI and semiconductor development that reflect Purdue’s role as America’s semiconductor university,” College of Engineering Dean Arvind Raman said in the release. “These programs are inspiring Purdue’s efforts to make Indiana the Silicon Heartland.”