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Google Isn’t Playing Games With New Chip

Built in secret, Tensor Processing Unit has strategic role in speeding up artificial intelligence

When Google’s AlphaGo computer program bested South Korean Go champion Lee Se-dol in March, it took advantage of a secret weapon: a microprocessor chip specially designed by Google.

The chip sped up the Go-playing software, allowing it to plot moves in the time-limited match and look further ahead in the game.

But the processor, built in...

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