UT San Antonio to launch nation's first open-access neuromorphic computing hub

The University of Texas at San Antonio plans to launch THOR: The Neuromorphic Commons, a national hub for neuromorphic computing open to public use. The initiative is led by the MATRIX AI Consortium for Human Well-Being and is funded by the National Science Foundation. It will provide researchers nationwide access to large-scale neuromorphic platforms for experiments. Neuromorphic systems mimic the structure of the human brain to process information with lower energy use than traditional computers. The SpiNNaker2 platform at the core of THOR contains roughly 400,000 parallel processing elements and supports spiking neural networks. Researchers will apply for access, join a queue and use the systems at no cost, with the setup designed for high utilization similar to a public library. Dhireesha Kudithipudi, founding director of the MATRIX AI Consortium and lead scientific principal investigator for THOR, said the hub will democratize the technology and expand industry-academia partnerships. The project includes collaborators from UT Knoxville, UC San Diego, Harvard University and other institutions. An official launch with a live demonstration is scheduled for February 23 at the UT San Antonio San Pedro I building. The effort also emphasizes training, education and workshops. Team members said the resource will allow broader exploration of neuromorphic hardware and applications such as adaptive medical devices and efficient edge computing.