OpenAI patents chip design that switches between math types to save power
OpenAI has been granted a patent for a computer chip design that can switch between two types of math: floating-point, which handles decimals, and integer, which handles whole numbers. The system turns off unused parts of the chip depending on the task to reduce energy use and keep performance steady.
In the filing’s own words
The disclosure describes systems and methods for mixed-mode, mixed-precision computation using a configurable compute engine for vector-matrix operations. A processing system selects a floating-point mode or an integer mode, selects a precision, and gates inactive datapath portions to reduce energy and stabilize latency. Streaming and stationary operand registers supply compute circuitry that, in floating-point mode, forms a mantissa product and product exponent, combines signs, and aligns the product using a power-of-two generator that drives a selection network based on the exponent. In integer mode, the same selection network performs integer multiplication from bitwise inputs, with sign handling applying two's-complement correction prior to accumulation. Parallel adder trees feed a hierarchical output accumulator sized to the selected precision, and normalization performs leading-one detection, mode-dependent exponent correction, rounding, and zero flushing. Optional dequantization folds scale tensors into the exponent path, and implementations support compute-in-memory or conventional accelerators.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A computing system, comprising: a processing system including one or more processors; and a compute engine coupled to the processing system, wherein the processing system is configured to: select a mode from a floating-point mode or an integer mode; select a precision from multiple precisions; and gate portions of the compute engine responsive to the selected mode and the selected precision; and the compute engine comprises: operand registers for operand values; compute circuitry configured, in the floating-point mode, to produce a mantissa product and a product exponent and to combine signs; alignment circuitry comprising a power-of-two generator and a selection network coupled to the compute circuitry, the alignment circuitry being configured to: in the floating-point mode, align the mantissa product as part of multiplication using a power-of-two value corresponding to the product exponent; and in the integer mode, drive the selection network to perform integer multiplications of the operand values; sign-handling circuitry configured to manage negative values, including two's-complement handling in the integer mode prior to accumulation; accumulation circuitry comprising a plurality of parallel adder trees and a hierarchical output accumulator; and normalization circuitry configured to form an output value in a numeric format.
Facts
- Company
- OpenAI (OpenAI Opco, LLC)
- Official title
- Flexible architecture for floating-point and integer compute-in-memory
- Patent number
- US12761876B2
- Application number
- 19542519
- Filed
- Feb 17, 2026
- Granted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Inventors
- 1
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 7/5443 Physics & computingG06F 7/4876 Physics & computingG06F 2207/3824 Physics & computingMore from OpenAI in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.