computing's physical limits hold secrets for ai's future
physicist richard feynman explored computing's fundamental limits in 1959, and now researchers are revisiting these limits as ai demands more computing power.
in 1959, physicist richard feynman gave a lecture on the potential for manipulating matter at an extremely small scale, noting that physical laws permit vast data storage in tiny spaces. as computing advances stall and ai demands more power, researchers are revisiting these fundamental physical limits. six hyperscalers are set to spend over $700 billion this year on computing infrastructure, but this brute-force approach may not yield desired performance gains. exploring physical limits could lead to new tech developments and deeper understanding of physical laws, potentially impacting future ai infrastructure and progress.