“It’s not inconceivable we’ll reach a point that machines do match human intelligence,” said Intel CTO Justin Rattner, referring to the concept of the technological Singularity.

Rattner said the fundamental technologies behind a future exaflop machine could be demonstrated by the middle of next decade, and — depending on government investment — the first exaflop machines could become operational in the second half of the decade, depending on overcoming limitations in today’s computing architectures.