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NPU
General/dictionary/npu
Definition
Neural Processing Unit. A dedicated chip optimized for tensor operations at low power, used for on-device AI. Examples: Apple Neural Engine (iPhone, Mac), Qualcomm Hexagon (Android), Google Tensor. Optimized for tokens-per-watt rather than peak throughput.
Related terms
Posts that use this term
- What it takes to run a model on your own machine
Why VRAM is the one number that decides whether a local LLM runs, what quantization really does to a model file, and the hardware ladder from an 8GB laptop to a 192GB workstation.
- Where AI actually runs: cloud, local, edge
When you use AI, a model file is sitting on a real machine. There are only three places it can be, and which one decides almost everything else.