China targets top spot in supercomputing with fully domestic, CPU-only machine

Lingsheng or LineShine, built from home-grown CPUs, is designed to surpass America’s El Capitan, the world’s fastest supercomputer2-MIN READ2-MIN2ListenPublished: 8:05pm, 5 May 2026Updated: 8:14pm, 5 May 2026China has unveiled a new supercomputer built from entirely home-grown CPUs, with the aim of beating the world’s fastest machine while sidestepping US export controls.Known as Lingsheng or LineShine, it is designed to reach 2 exaflops – or two quintillion calculations per second – edging past the 1.8-exaflop El Capitan, the current record holder at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.Unlike other exascale supercomputers, which rely on graphics processing units (GPUs), LineShine will run entirely on central processing units (CPUs).01:46AI rush turns everyday data storage into ‘digital gold’ for Hong Kong consumersAI rush turns everyday data storage into ‘digital gold’ for Hong Kong consumersIt uses 47,000 CPUs across 92 compute cabinets, according to its chief designer Lu Yutong from the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen, China’s southern tech hub.