Google’s first Tensor processing unit: architecture

In Google's First Tensor Processing Unit - Origins, we saw why and how Google developed the first Tensor Processing Unit (or TPU v1) in just 15 months, starting in late 2013.

Today's post will look in more detail at the architecture that emerged from that work and at its performance.

The Chip Letter

People forget that Google is probably one of the largest hardware manufacturers out of the major technology companies. Sadly, we rarely get good insights into what, exactly, these machines are capable of, as they rarely make it to places like eBay so people can disseminate them.