An application-specific integrated circuit implements hardware around a targeted workload. By removing flexibility that the workload does not need, designers can improve throughput, latency, energy use, size, or cost.
Specialization also creates tradeoffs. The chip may depend on custom software, support fewer algorithms, and become less useful if model architectures change beyond what its design can handle.
ELI5
An application-specific integrated circuit is a computer chip designed for a particular kind of work rather than many general tasks. Giving up some flexibility can make that chosen work faster, cheaper or more energy efficient.
For example, a chip built for a narrow set of AI calculations may process them more efficiently than a general processor. The tradeoff is that it may need special software and can become less useful if future models require very different operations.
