IBM's Synapse/True North chip optimizes interconnect, much like synapses do. It's interesting because it's actually a new silicon process, and already it's low-

IBM's Synapse/True North chip optimizes interconnect, much like synapses do. It's interesting because it's actually a new silicon process, and already it's low-power. If it can be used to solve optimization problems, like logic minimization in a compiler, it might actually enable practical 'strong'-type AI. This is because IBM has essentially invented a practical hardware solution to NP-complete problems, where theoretical software solutions don't seem to exist.