A paper describing the research, published in the scientific journal Applied Physics Reviews, reveals that their photon-based (tensor) processing unit (TPU) was able to perform between 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than an electric TPU.

"The new approach significantly improves both the speed and efficiency of machine learning neural networks. We found that integrated photonic platforms that integrate efficient optical memory can obtain the same operations as a tensor processing unit, but they consume a fraction of the power and have higher throughput", said Mario Miscuglio, one of the paper's authors. "When opportunely trained, [the platforms] can be used for performing inference at the speed of light."