Extropic Unveils Thermodynamic 10,000x Energy Saving AI Chips

Published 9 hours ago

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The Spin

Techno-optimist narrative

Thermodynamic computing is a revolutionary breakthrough that harnesses thermal noise as a computational resource instead of fighting it. This paradigm shift eliminates the massive energy waste of digital systems that artificially generate pseudo-randomness, delivering true efficiency gains for AI and optimization tasks.

Viggo Hansen on LinkedIn E1 Ventures

Techno-skeptic narrative

Extropic's XTR-0 is recycled stochastic computing dressed in thermodynamic buzzwords — a tiny FPGA toy for niche RNG tasks. Lacking scalable benchmarks, it ignores analog pitfalls like chip variability and verification nightmares. Amid GPU dominance, this unproven prototype risks vaporware status, fooling investors with sci-fi flair.

Y Combinator

Cynical narrative

AI has hit an energy wall. The AI boom mirrors the unsustainable telecom bubble of the late 1990s, with massive investment in technology that can't deliver profits fast enough. Companies are already installing polluting generators because the grid lacks capacity for their data centers, threatening economic collapse when reality hits.

Paul Krugman on Substack