AI Glossary

GPU

Also called graphics processing unit

What does “GPU” mean?

GPU: Originally built to draw graphics, a GPU is a chip with thousands of small cores that run many simple calculations at once. That parallel design suits the matrix math behind neural networks, so GPUs became the main hardware for training and running large AI models.

GPU visual guide: Originally built to draw graphics, a GPU is a chip with thousands of small cores that run many simple calculations at once. That parallel design suits the matrix math behind neural networks, so GPUs became the main hardware for training and running large AI models.
Visual guide Open full size (new tab)

What is an example of “GPU”?

Most large language models are trained on clusters of data-center GPUs, such as Nvidia's H100 and its successors.

Keep learning

See also

AI acceleratorTermCUDATermHigh-bandwidth memoryTermGPU memoryTerm

Same topic

BatchingTermCapexTermComputeTermCompute clusterTermData center coolingTerm