A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful, which is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation's technological prowess.
The LineShine computer in Shenzhen, China, displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the latest version of the TOP500 ranking announced Tuesday. It was the Chinese computer's debut on the list.
However, there were four European supercomputers in the top 10. Dropping to fifth place is the Jupiter supercomputer in Germany.
Supercomputers are especially useful for researchers who want to collect and analyse data, as they can perform complex calculations much quicker, allowing them to address some of the world’s most intricate problems, such as drug discovery, climate and weather forecasts, or modelling black holes.
One of the most interesting use cases for the supercomputer is that it is key to developing models used in artificial intelligence (AI).
