Re:Cerebras’ new monster AI chip adds 1.4T transistors
by sanxiyn on Thursday April 22, 2021 @08:59PM
(#26909927)
I think we are talking past each other. sillysaurusx is talking about OpenGL/Direct3D as a portability layer for hardwares. API vs AD is not a hardware portability layer concern. The proposal is to standardize OpenGL/Direct3D-like hardware portability layer defined by API. API vs AD you are talking about happens far above that and it is irrelevant.
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Re:Cerebras’ new monster AI chip adds 1.4T transistors
by oivey on Thursday April 22, 2021 @09:25PM
(#26910088)
Today, things like PyTorch are AD systems, optimization systems, libraries of high performance interoperable common blocks, and more. This massive complexity is why there is no standard. If you have a compiler front end that can AD arbitrary code, then the framework no longer has to worry about that. If you have a compiler backend that can target multiple devices, then the framework doesn’t have to do that, either. The size and complexity of PyTorch/TensorFlow is exactly why there isn’t a standard hardware portable NN API. A sane API of hardware independent common blocks can’t happen without all the front and backend compiler stuff first.
A PyTorch/TensorFlow-like API is always going to be massive, complicated, and hard to port to new hardware targets. Additionally, the complexity and reliance on C alone will make integrating exotic new concepts like say, differential equation solvers, extremely laborious.