IBM's Sequoia has claimed top spot as the most powerful supercomputer on the planet, beating Fujitsu's K Computer to second position.
According to a BBC report, this is the first time a US technology firm has been accredited for creating the world's fastest computer since losing out to China's Tianhe-1A supercomputer that was developed in 2010. Out of the top ten positions, IBM holds out five spots.
The title was announced by the TOP500 Project Committee, who has been publishing the list of top supercomputers on a bi-annual basis since 1993.
Sequoia was developed primarily for the US National Nuclear Security Administration and the supercomputer will be used for conducting simulations on nuclear weapons.
According to a press statement from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the Sequoia is currently present, the main purpose of the computer is to "provide a more complete understanding of weapons performance."
"While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation's nuclear deterrent," Thomas D'Agostino, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) administrator, said according to BBC.
For Sequoia to perform a calculation in one hour would equal 6.7 billion people taking 320 years to do so on hand calculators.
IBM's superfast speeds are backed by over 1.5 million processors that are integrated in its circuitry and the device is around 1.55 times faster and consumes less power than the K Computer. The Japanese based device previously topped the TOP500 list of fastest computers twice.
According to Professor Jack Dongarra, who co-publishes the list with German-based Professor Hans Meuer, IBM has reached a speed rate that's 273,930 times faster than the Thinking Machines's CM-5/1024, which is the first computer claimed to be the world's fastest in 1993.
"A calculation that took three full days to compute on the Thinking Machines in 1993 today can be done in less than one second on the Sequoia," Dongarra told the news service.
