Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang unveiled a $15,000 Digits Devbox, a compact supercomputer aimed at helping "deep learning" researchers.
The box has four Titan X graphics processing units, the world's fastest graphics chip, which Nvidia announced it would begin selling today for $1,000 each. The new Linux machine is aimed at accelerating research into deep learning -- that is, using neural networks that can learn and get better over time to solve complex scientific and engineering problems.
The development kit box will be available for researchers starting in May 2015. Huang spoke about the Devbox at the GPUTech conference in San Jose, California, today.
Huang noted that deep learning is revolutionizing every field, from self-driving cars to medical research. In medical research, he said that GPUs are being used in deep-learning research papers, such as analyzing the rate of growth of cancer cells, understanding gene mutation, and predicting the toxicity of new drugs.