AI speed depends on memory more than processing power
The world's most advanced artificial intelligence is frequently hamstrung by a digital traffic jam, where the fastest processors must wait idly for data to arrive from distant memory banks.
Modern computing has reached a point where the speed of thought is limited by the distance to the pantry. While a single chip like an Nvidia H100 can perform trillions of calculations every second, it spends a startling amount of its time doing nothing at all. This happens because the data required for these calculations is stored in separate memory chips, and the physical wires connecting them cannot move information fast enough to keep the processor fed. This digital bottleneck means that doubling a chip's raw math skills often yields zero improvement in actual performance.