ELI5: What is the difference between an NPU and a GPU

An NPU is like a brain specialized for doing smart things quickly, while a GPU is like a muscle that's really good at drawing pictures.

Imagine you have a box of LEGOs.

• A GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is like having a big team of builders who are really good at following instructions to build the same thing many, many times, very fast. Think of drawing lots of the same LEGO brick on a screen. They are good at things like making video games look pretty with all the colors and shapes. They are good at doing the same job over and over.

• An NPU, or Neural Processing Unit, is like a detective who can look at all the LEGOs and figure out what you're trying to build even if you don't tell them exactly. It's good at recognizing patterns and making smart guesses. NPUs are used for things like:

Think of it this way: the GPU is like the artist painting a picture, while the NPU is the one who understands what the picture means*. The NPU is designed to be very efficient at running artificial intelligence algorithms, which are like recipes for smart behavior. So, while a GPU makes images look great, an NPU makes your devices smarter and more helpful in your everyday life.