Chinese school aims to build pocket-sized computer brain

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is pouring money into an ambitious plan to develop a pocket-size artificial intelligence (AI) computer. Amid the hoopla surrounding AlphaGo's upcoming match with a Chinese Go board game master in May, researchers at the school are attempting to fit enormous amounts of computing power onto tiny chips – a feat that so far no one in the world has ever achieved. An AI algorithm will be built into a chip called "Cambicron," which researchers hope to one day put in mobile phones and smart watches. Google's AI program AlphaGo needs huge power and large servers to operate. CAS wants the same level of performance running on just one watt of power, according to Chen Yunji of the CAS Institute of Computing Technology.