Scientists in the United States have developed a light-based chip that harnesses the power of light and electricity to efficiently perform power-intensive artificial intelligence (AI) tasks such as image recognition. The new chip boasts 10 to 100 times greater energy efficiency than conventional chips performing the same tasks, potentially significantly alleviating the enormous power demands of AI applications while also promoting the development of higher-performance AI systems and models. The research findings are published in the latest issue of Advanced Photonics.