China targets top spot in supercomputing with fully domestic, CPU-only machine

China targets top spot in supercomputing with fully domestic, CPU-only machine

From News - South China Morning Post

May 5, 2026

About this episode

China has introduced a new supercomputer with entirely domestic CPUs aimed at surpassing the current world record holder in performance.

China has unveiled a new supercomputer built from entirely home-grown CPUs, with the aim of beating the world’s fastest machine while sidestepping US export controls. Known as Lingsheng or LineShine, it is designed to reach 2 exaflops – or two quintillion calculations per second – edging past the 1.8-exaflop El Capitan, the current record holder at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Unlike other exascale supercomputers, which rely on graphics processing units (GPUs),...

Topics covered

  • supercomputing
  • technology
  • China
  • exascale computing
  • US export controls

Keywords

  • supercomputer
  • China
  • Lingsheng
  • exaflops
  • El Capitan
  • CPU
  • GPU
  • technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: China

Products: Lingsheng, LineShine, El Capitan

Places: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California

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