Envisioning AI: Legacy and Impact of the Connection Machine

How was AI imagined before the advent of the Internet? And what can we learn from these concepts today?

The CM was the first commercial supercomputer with a massively parallel architecture – a technological pioneering achievement that contributed significantly to the development of modern high-performance computers (HPC) and AI systems. Developed in the years between 1983 and 1994 by Thinking Machines Corporation (TMC), the Connection Machines – featuring the models CM-1, CM-2, and CM-5 – were inspired by the question of how intelligence emerges in the human brain through complex, networked, and parallel processing. The diverse expertise that came together in the CM series found its way into the work of influential technology companies through various paths following the company’s bankruptcy. For instance, parts of TMC were acquired directly by Sun Microsystems in 1994 (which was itself later acquired by Oracle in 2010). In addition, several innovative startups founded by former TMC employees were taken over by big digital corporations – such as Alexa Internet by Amazon or Metaweb by Google. Despite its far-reaching technological influence, CM’s formative role in the history of AI and high-performance computing remained largely unrecognized after TMC filed for bankruptcy in 1994. The aim of the upcoming conference is therefore to foreground CM’s previously unknown legacy: as a visionary technology that shaped the development of today’s AI and supercomputing landscape. This will be accomplished through three curated thematic sections exploring the following aspects of CM: its technological complexity, the aesthetics of its design, and its cultural influence. At the same time, the conference aims to analyze why the achievements of this supercomputer – so far ahead of its time – have faded into obscurity.

In parallel to the conference, a historical CM-2 will be on display in the ZKM foyer.