A Chinese supercomputer has been named the world’s fastest.
According to a list of the speediest computers in the world, published by TOP500, the Chinese Sunway TaihuLight is number one.
The 93 petaflop computer runs on a Linux-based operating system and is capable of 93,000 trillion calculations per second, which is double the speed of last year’s top computer, the Tianhe-2, also Chinese.
"Considering that just 10 years ago, China claimed a mere 28 systems on the list, with none ranked in the top 30, the nation has come further and faster than any other country in the history of supercomputing," according to Top500.
China now has 167 computers in the top 500, surpassing the United States, which has 165.
The TaihuLight is powered by a new ShenWei processor and is entirely made in China. According to a news release, it ends “remaining speculation that China would have to rely on Western technology to compete effectively in the upper echelons of supercomputing.”
TaihuLight is currently being operated at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, China. It will be used in a variety of ways, from advanced engineering and manufacturing work to climate modeling.
China also boasts the second fastest supercomputer on the list. The United States has four computers among the top 10, while others in the top 10 are in Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Saudi Arabia.