中國(guó)成超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)最高產(chǎn)國(guó)，建造速度遠(yuǎn)超美國(guó)

America is now home to the world’s speediest supercomputer. But the new list of the 500 swiftest machines underlines how much faster China is building them.

美國(guó)現(xiàn)在擁有全球最快的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)。但新出爐的全球超級(jí)電腦500強(qiáng)榜單突顯出中國(guó)建造超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)的速度遠(yuǎn)超美國(guó)。

The list, published Monday, shows the Chinese companies and government pulling away as the most prolific producer of supercomputers, with 206 of the top 500. American corporations and the United States government designed and made 124 of the supercomputers on the list.

周一發(fā)布的榜單顯示，中國(guó)企業(yè)和政府制造的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)在500強(qiáng)榜單中占206臺(tái)，逐漸成為最高產(chǎn)的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)制造者。上榜的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)中124臺(tái)由美國(guó)企業(yè)和政府設(shè)計(jì)與制造。

For years, the United States dominated the supercomputer market. But two years ago, China pulled even on the Top 500 list. China moved decisively ahead last fall and extended the gap in the latest tally.

美國(guó)多年主導(dǎo)超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)市場(chǎng)。但兩年前，中國(guó)在500強(qiáng)榜單中追平美國(guó)。中國(guó)去年秋天果斷繼續(xù)推進(jìn)，在最新榜單中擴(kuò)大了與美國(guó)的差距。

Making the most powerful supercomputers is regarded as one measure of a nation’s technical prowess, even if they are a rarefied niche of technology. Countries and companies have increasingly deployed the machines in a wider range of tasks in fields including medicine, new materials and energy technology.

制造最強(qiáng)大的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)被視為衡量一國(guó)技術(shù)實(shí)力的一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，盡管它們是一種少見(jiàn)的小眾技術(shù)。國(guó)家和企業(yè)越來(lái)越多地在醫(yī)藥、新材料和能源技術(shù)等領(lǐng)域的廣泛任務(wù)中部署超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)。

Supercomputing is one step in China’s rapid rise in technology, stirring concerns in America about the country’s grand plan and tactics — and the potential economic and geopolitical implications of those advancements.

超級(jí)計(jì)算是中國(guó)在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域迅速崛起的步驟之一，引發(fā)了美國(guó)對(duì)中國(guó)的宏偉計(jì)劃和策略——以及這些進(jìn)步的潛在經(jīng)濟(jì)和地緣政治影響的擔(dān)憂(yōu)。

In an assessment last fall, the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a bipartisan congressional advisory group, pointed to supercomputing as part of China’s “ambitious whole-of-government plan to achieve dominance in advanced technology.”

在去年秋天的一次評(píng)估中，國(guó)會(huì)的兩黨咨詢(xún)機(jī)構(gòu)美中經(jīng)濟(jì)安全審查委員會(huì)(United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission)指出，超級(jí)計(jì)算是中國(guó)“政府齊心協(xié)力，實(shí)現(xiàn)主導(dǎo)先進(jìn)技術(shù)的宏偉計(jì)劃”的一部分。

China began its supercomputing push in earnest a decade ago. Initially, it absorbed foreign technology, and then steadily developed its own.

中國(guó)真正開(kāi)始發(fā)展超級(jí)計(jì)算是十年前。最初吸收外國(guó)技術(shù)，然后逐步發(fā)展自己的技術(shù)。

“China was slow to make that work, but it’s working now,” said Richard Suttmeier, an expert in Chinese science policy at the University of Oregon.

“中國(guó)的起步很慢，但現(xiàn)在在穩(wěn)步推進(jìn)，”俄勒岡大學(xué)(University of Oregon)研究中國(guó)科學(xué)政策的專(zhuān)家理查德·薩特邁耶(Richard Suttmeier)說(shuō)。

The high-performance computing program, policy experts say, offers a blueprint for the multibillion-dollar efforts China has recently begun in fields like artificial intelligence and quantum computing — the next frontiers of technology, where economic advantages will be won or lost.

政策專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)，高性能計(jì)算項(xiàng)目為中國(guó)最近在人工智能和量子計(jì)算等關(guān)乎贏得或失去經(jīng)濟(jì)優(yōu)勢(shì)的下一代技術(shù)領(lǐng)域開(kāi)始的行動(dòng)提供了藍(lán)圖。相關(guān)行動(dòng)涉及的資金投入以十億美元計(jì)。

Supercomputer technology has occasionally been a trade issue between the United States and China. In 2015, for example, Washington denied Intel a license to sell its microprocessor chips to four supercomputer labs in China, saying the centers worked on technology for the Chinese military.

超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)技術(shù)偶爾會(huì)成為美國(guó)與中國(guó)之間的貿(mào)易問(wèn)題。比如2015年，華盛頓拒絕向英特爾頒發(fā)許可證，致使其無(wú)法向中國(guó)的四個(gè)超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)實(shí)驗(yàn)室出售微處理器芯片。華盛頓稱(chēng)這四家超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)中心是在為中國(guó)軍方研發(fā)技術(shù)。

The export ban, supercomputer experts say, served to prod the Chinese to accelerate their development efforts.

超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)，這項(xiàng)出口禁令促使中國(guó)加快了自己的發(fā)展速度。

“The lesson the Chinese took away was that you can’t rely on the United States,” said Jack Dongarra, a supercomputer expert at the University of Tennessee and co-creator of the Top 500 list of the fastest machines. “They’re trying to replace all Western technology with all Chinese-made.”

“中國(guó)吸取的教訓(xùn)是，不能依靠美國(guó)，”田納西大學(xué)(University of Tennessee)的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)專(zhuān)家、超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)500強(qiáng)榜單的聯(lián)合制定者杰克·唐加拉(Jack Dongarra)說(shuō)。“他們正在嘗試用中國(guó)自己的技術(shù)取代所有西方技術(shù)。”

Supercomputers were once found almost entirely in national laboratories, and used for government projects like simulating nuclear explosions and modeling weather patterns. But more than half of the 500 fastest are now toiling for corporations.

超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)一度幾乎全部位于國(guó)家實(shí)驗(yàn)室里，用于模擬核爆和天氣模式建模等政府項(xiàng)目。但現(xiàn)在，全世界最快的500臺(tái)超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)中超過(guò)一半正服務(wù)于企業(yè)。

The global supercomputer market is expected to double from 2017 to 2022, to more than $9.5 billion, according to an estimate from Hyperion Research. The research firm defines supercomputers as machines that cost more than $500,000 each.

據(jù)研究公司Hyperion Research預(yù)計(jì)，從2017年到2022年，全球超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)市場(chǎng)將翻一番，增至逾95億美元(約合590億元人民幣)。該公司將超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)定義為每臺(tái)成本超過(guò)50萬(wàn)美元的計(jì)算機(jī)。

Three Chinese companies are among the top five makers of the 500 fastest supercomputers. Lenovo is first, Inspur is third, and Sugon is fifth. Two American companies are second and fourth, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Cray.

在500強(qiáng)榜單中排名前五的制造商中，中國(guó)公司占三家。聯(lián)想第一、浪潮第三、中科曙光第五。慧與(Hewlett-Packard Enterprise)和克雷(Cray)這兩家美國(guó)公司分列第二和第四。

The new list confirmed that the current fastest machine resides in the United States. This month, the Department of Energy announced that its new supercomputer, called Summit, had achieved speeds well ahead of the previous leader, the Sunway TaihuLight at a Chinese supercomputing center in Wuxi. Summit, built by IBM in a partnership with Nvidia, is at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

新榜單證實(shí)，目前最快的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)在美國(guó)。本月，美國(guó)能源部(Department of Energy)宣布其新建成的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)Summit實(shí)現(xiàn)的計(jì)算速度，遠(yuǎn)超上一臺(tái)全球最快的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)，即中國(guó)無(wú)錫一個(gè)超級(jí)計(jì)算中心的神威·太湖之光。Summit由IBM和Nvidia聯(lián)合建造，現(xiàn)在田納西州的橡樹(shù)嶺國(guó)家實(shí)驗(yàn)室。

Depei Qian, a top supercomputer researcher in China, marvels at the progress his nation has made in the past decade — “beyond our expectations,” he said.

中國(guó)頂級(jí)的超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)研究人員錢(qián)德沛對(duì)中國(guó)過(guò)去十年取得的進(jìn)展驚嘆不已。“超出了我們的預(yù)期，”他說(shuō)。

A point of particular pride: The Sunway TaihuLight machine uses homegrown microprocessors. “That used to be a weakness,” said Mr. Qian, a computer science professor at both Sun Yat-sen University and Beihang University.

特別值得驕傲的一點(diǎn)是，神威·太湖之光使用的是國(guó)產(chǎn)微處理器。“過(guò)去這是一個(gè)弱勢(shì)，”同時(shí)在中山大學(xué)和北京航空航天大學(xué)任教的計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)教授錢(qián)德沛說(shuō)。

But while China has made impressive strides, Mr. Qian said the country still lagged in certain advanced hardware technologies and, especially, in software. “Software is a tough issue for us,” he said. “That will take longer.”

盡管中國(guó)取得了驚人的進(jìn)步，但錢(qián)德沛說(shuō)，在某些先進(jìn)的硬件技術(shù)，尤其是軟件方面，中國(guó)依然落后。“軟件對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)棘手的問(wèn)題，”他說(shuō)。“需要的時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)。”

Software is a challenge for supercomputing engineers in general. Supercomputers are increasingly being programmed to process vast amounts of data with artificial intelligence software. So data-handling speeds in software applications often become more important than raw calculating speed, which has been the traditional yardstick of supercomputer performance.

總的來(lái)說(shuō)，軟件是超級(jí)計(jì)算工程師面臨的一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)。超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)越來(lái)越被設(shè)計(jì)成利用人工智能軟件處理海量數(shù)據(jù)。因此，軟件應(yīng)用程序的數(shù)據(jù)處理速度，往往比原始計(jì)算速度更重要。后者是超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)性能的傳統(tǒng)衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

The 500 list is based on the machines’ speed of mathematical calculation. But another benchmark — codeveloped by Mr. Dongarra of the University of Tennessee — measures data-handling speed in applications. Summit tops that list as well, while the Sunway machine ranks sixth.

500強(qiáng)榜單是根據(jù)超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)的數(shù)學(xué)計(jì)算速度制定的。但由田納西大學(xué)的唐加拉參與制定的另一項(xiàng)基準(zhǔn)，衡量的是應(yīng)用程序的數(shù)據(jù)處理速度。在那份榜單中，Summit也名列榜首，神威·太湖之光位列第六。

But China is also catching up in software development, supercomputer experts said. “The flagship centers in China today are surprisingly similar to ours,” said Rick Stevens, an associate director of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

但超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)專(zhuān)家表示，中國(guó)在軟件研發(fā)方面也在迎頭趕上。“如今中國(guó)的重點(diǎn)中心與我們的驚人地相似，”伊利諾伊州阿貢國(guó)家實(shí)驗(yàn)室(Argonne National Laboratory)副主任里克·史蒂文斯(Rick Stevens)說(shuō)。

China’s overarching policy, Mr. Stevens said, is “to play the long game in technology, and supercomputers are just one part of that.”

斯蒂文斯說(shuō)，中國(guó)總的政策是“在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域打持久戰(zhàn)，超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)只是其中的一部分”。