Charles Dickens said: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
If we were to give a more precise positioning to this era, it is the era of AI. The 2024 "Government Work Report" proposed: "We must vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces." Among them, in the in-depth advancement of digital economy innovation and development, it mentioned the deepening of research and application of big data, artificial intelligence (AI), etc., carrying out the "AI+" action, and creating a digital industry cluster with international competitiveness.
This is the first time "AI+" has been written into the "Government Work Report."
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Computing power construction, the three mountains to be overcome
In the era of artificial intelligence, the digital industry has become an important force in promoting economic growth and social development. Industry insiders have proposed the basic paradigm of the digital industry:
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Digital industry = computing power × scenario × data
In this formula, computing power, scenario, and data are indispensable multipliers of each other. Under computing power, the chip is the most important foundation. The domestic computing power industry is developing rapidly, and Hai Guang is one of the few integrated circuit design companies that have the research and development capabilities of high-end general-purpose processors and co-processors, contributing an important force.
Our country's computing power construction is booming, but it still needs to overcome three mountains.The first major mountain is the need for AI computing power to evolve from "available" to "good to use." Currently, the underlying chips have resolved the issue of "existence" and "non-existence." However, compared to the international leading standards, there is still room for improvement in terms of functionality, performance, and cost-effectiveness of computing power construction.
The second major mountain is the progression of AI computing power technology from "following" to "keeping pace" and then to "leading." At present, our country is still at a disadvantage in certain competitive aspects. For instance, there are gaps in the performance and power consumption of our processors, the performance and functionality of operating systems, and the compatibility of applications.
The third major mountain is the need for industry chain collaboration in the development of computing power industries. The construction of computing power involves a particularly long industry chain, including chip design, manufacturing, and complete machine production, among other links. However, there are high technical barriers between different links, and there are certain difficulties in communication and collaboration between them.
As for the first two mountains, some domestic chip manufacturers have already provided their own answers. For example, Hygon Information has set goals for different time periods, with each phase supported by CPU+DCU chips to promote the development of "Digital China," providing a good engine for "Digital China."
Regarding the third mountain of industry chain collaboration, there is currently an open solution—the Photosynthesis Organization. Through the underlying general-purpose chips of Hygon, it brings together hardware and software manufacturers to build an open and collaborative industrial ecosystem.
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A FULCRUM TO LEVER THE COLLABORATION OF COMPUTING POWER ECOLOGY
The garden of computing power cannot become a walled garden; it needs to become an open garden. Chinese computing power and chips can only have vitality if they become an open ecosystem.
Going alone is fast, but going together is far. The Photosynthesis Organization is centered around the domestic general computing platform, uniting upstream and downstream enterprises of the industry chain, universities, research institutes, industry enterprises, and other related innovative forces to achieve collaborative technical breakthroughs. Together, they create safe, easy-to-use, and open products and solutions, and carry out a series of activities such as testing certification, technical training, solution incubation, application demonstration, and promotion and exchange. This promotes the common development of members of the cooperative organization and jointly builds an inclusive and prosperous information technology ecosystem.Photosynthetic Organization Ecological Partners
Currently, the Photosynthetic Organization has more than 4,000 member units, over 8,000 software and hardware tests, more than 12,000 certification certificates, 24 regional branches established, and 23 adaptation centers. By building a first-class innovative ecosystem, it fully leverages the agglomeration effect, promotes industrial innovation, and empowers industry development.
Recently, the 2024 Photosynthetic Organization Leaders Conference opened in Henan, from which we can get a glimpse of how the Photosynthetic Organization empowers the domestic AI ecosystem.
Firstly, the Photosynthetic Organization Leaders Conference promotes technological innovation. Zhou Qi, Deputy General Manager of Baidu AI Technology Ecology, said that Baidu AI Technology Ecology and Hygon chips have achieved deep integration of product technology, landing the cooperation between PaddlePaddle and Hygon chips in technical adaptation and product collaboration, producing multiple practical results in the scientific field. At the same time, Baidu and Hygon have also formed a comprehensive system cooperation in the ecological aspect, jointly accelerating the prosperity of the enterprise AI application ecosystem.
Secondly, the conference strengthened the close cooperation between upstream and downstream. At the meeting, many partners such as Hygon Information, Lenovo KaiTian, Zhongke Controllable, Tongfang Computer, Ruijie Network, etc., jointly released new whole machine products based on the new generation of Hygon CPUs. At the same time, the "Star Sea Plan" aimed at further building a high-quality software ecosystem was officially launched. This series of actions can optimize the industrial chain, improve the efficiency of resource allocation, and provide stronger support for the development of AI computing power.
Finally, the conference promoted the application of AI technology in various industries. For example, China Yangtze River Three Gorges Group Corporation, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Shanxi Taihang Laboratory Co., Ltd., etc., all shared innovative cases at the meeting, inspiring more enterprises and institutions to actively explore the application of AI technology, expand its application scenarios, and thus promote the widespread application of domestic AI computing power in more fields.
By continuously investing heavily in innovative research and development, gathering upstream and downstream industries and partners from various industries, the Photosynthetic Organization is providing "core" quality productivity for all industries.
As for why this year's 2024 Photosynthetic Organization Leaders Conference was held in Henan, the answer is not difficult.
In recent years, Henan has continued to implement a digital transformation strategy, vigorously promote the construction of advanced computing power industries, and accelerate the construction of a new type of industrial ecosystem. Just the China (Zhengzhou) Intelligent Sensor Valley has already had 41 national-level specialized and new "little giant" enterprises, with the industrial scale growing from 5 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 45%.
As a central region for the gathering of scientific and technological elements, Henan has an irreplaceable geographical advantage. The Central Plains region represented by Henan is actively creating a new highland for the computing power industry.At the meeting, to better empower the construction of Zhengzhou as the "City of Computing Power" and to accelerate the creation of an industrial innovation highland, under the witness of leaders at all levels of Henan Province and Zhengzhou City, the Photosynthetic Organization took the lead in hosting several unveiling and signing ceremonies.
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AI Computing Power Development Needs to Cross Three Narrow Gates
Computing power is becoming an important indicator to measure the quality of economic development of a country or region. According to the "2022-2023 Global Computing Power Index Assessment Report," based on the study of 15 sample countries, for every one point increase in the computing power index, the country's digital economy and GDP will increase by 3.6‰ and 1.7‰ respectively.
Computing power infrastructure plays a strategic, foundational, and leading role. Narrowing the gap with developed countries in computing power infrastructure is an important means for our country to achieve the catch-up and overtaking of computing power. It is estimated that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the investment in large data centers will grow at an annual rate of over 20%, and the cumulative investment driven by various aspects will exceed 3 trillion yuan.
However, to achieve the landing of domestic chips in all walks of life and promote the prosperous development of the AI computing power industry, it is necessary to cross three narrow gates: technology, productization, and ecosystem.
In terms of technology, the development of the computing power industry is rapid, and continuous technological updates are needed. The explosive development of artificial intelligence, large models, and other emerging businesses has driven the rapid development of a number of emerging businesses, which requires continuous technological innovation and iteration. In response to this phenomenon, the Photosynthetic Organization launched the "Photosynthetic Action," investing in equipment and funds worth more than 500 million yuan to encourage breakthroughs in technical problems and innovation in vertical field solutions, and providing 1000P computing power for free to growing small businesses through the "2023 Photosynthetic Action."
In terms of productization, products in the market are the core. To encourage the landing of enterprise product applications, the Photosynthetic Organization also launched the Photosynthetic Organization AI Solution Competition. Since its first launch in 2021, the Photosynthetic Organization Solution Competition has collected more than 500 leading industry solutions in two years, invited more than 100 industry experts to participate, and has practiced a large number of excellent industry cases in multiple tracks such as finance, government, energy, operators, and artificial intelligence.
In terms of the ecosystem, mutual cooperation between industries is key to boosting the ecosystem. For the domestic computing power industry, it is not only necessary for enterprises to make efforts but also to join hands with universities to connect in production, education, and research. The Photosynthetic Organization has established the Photosynthetic Fund, focusing on computing power resources, and uniting upstream and downstream enterprises, universities, research institutions, key user units, and other related innovative forces in the industrial chain to achieve collaborative technical research and development, and jointly create a safe and easy-to-use system architecture ecosystem.
Looking back at these three narrow gates, the Photosynthetic Organization is helping domestic enterprises to cross one by one. When computing power technology can continue to iterate and innovate, product applications can be implemented according to actual scenes, and production, education, and research can jointly tackle actual business problems, the construction of the computing power industry is equivalent to having a complete closed loop.Conclusion
Since the first Industrial Revolution, humanity has experienced the transition from the steam age to the electrical age, and then to the information age. Now, we are experiencing the AI era.
Under the backdrop of the Internet of Everything, the volume of data has grown explosively, and the demand for computing power has reached an unprecedented level. As of the end of May, there are more than ten planned intelligent computing centers with computer clusters across the country. From a national perspective, the structure of China's computing power is continuously being optimized.
As Academician Zheng Weiming of the Chinese Academy of Engineering said, "The current fierce industrial competition poses a severe test for the upgrade of AI, but also brings a rare opportunity. We must maintain an optimistic attitude, improve hardware performance, and strive to improve high-level industrial collaboration. We look forward to the Photosynthesis Organization continuing to maintain its technical and product advantages, and to continue to contribute to the construction of a widely win-win industrial ecosystem."
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