The Case For and Against Deep Learning Chips

Deep learning has become of the most relevant trends in modern software technology. From a conceptual standpoint, deep learning is a discipline of machine learning that focuses on modeling data using connected graphs with multiple processing layers. In the last few years, deep learning has become a pivotal technology to power uses cases such as image recognition, natural language processing or even powering some of the capabilities of self-driving vehicles. The popularity of deep learning has expanded beyond just software and now the industry is starting to talk about the first generation of hardware with deep learning capabilities: a deep learning chip. A few months ago, at its I/O Conference, Google announced the design of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) focused on deep learning capabilities and neural nets.