China Takes Over the Throne of the World's Fastest Supercomputer
In the latest development in the technology world, China has once again established itself as the owner of the fastest supercomputer in the world. The supercomputer system named LineShine has claimed the top position in the Top500 list, released in June 2026. With this achievement, China ended the dominance of the United States, previously held by El Capitan, a supercomputer owned by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
Impressive Performance of LineShine
LineShine recorded an impressive performance with a capability reaching 2,198 petaflops, equivalent to about 2.2 exaflops. This means LineShine is approximately 21 percent superior to El Capitan, which recorded 1,809 petaflops. With this result, El Capitan now ranks second on the list of the world's fastest supercomputers.
The Top500 list itself is a global benchmark updated every six months since 1993, aimed at measuring supercomputer performance based on computational capability. Additionally, LineShine also topped the High Performance Conjugate Gradient (HPCG) test, designed to measure system performance when running real-world scientific applications.
Innovation in Chip Design
One interesting aspect of LineShine is its innovative approach. Unlike many other supercomputers that rely on external GPUs from companies like Nvidia or AMD, LineShine integrates GPU-like computing functions directly into the main chip. The processors used are LingKun LX2 and LingQi accelerators, all developed domestically.
The system has about 13.79 million computing cores spread across 90 hardware cabinets. The chips used by LineShine adopt the instruction architecture from Arm Holdings, a British company now owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. Although Arm technology is widely used in smartphones, it is increasingly being adopted in data centers by major companies such as Nvidia and Amazon.
A Significant Achievement Amid Restrictions
This achievement is particularly significant considering the strict restrictions imposed by the US government on technology exports to China in recent years. These restrictions include the sale of advanced AI GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, as well as various rules limiting China's access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
LineShine is now used for various large-scale research projects, ranging from Earth system simulations covering the atmosphere, oceans, land, and ice layers, to complex simulations of the human brain that require enormous computational capacity. With this supercomputer's capabilities, it is expected that research in various fields can advance further and deeper.
Conclusion
With the success of LineShine, China demonstrates rapid technological progress and the ability to compete on the international stage despite various restrictions. This achievement is not only a milestone in the supercomputing world but also a symbol of innovation and resilience in China's technology industry. We look forward to seeing how this development will influence the global technology landscape in the future.
Source: https://tekno.kompas.com/read/2026/06/29/17350057/china-kembali-kuasai-takhta-superkomputer-tercepat-dunia-geser-as
