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Supercomputers reach approximately 2×10^16 calculations per second.

Reference judgmentLateDisputedResearch snapshot · October 15, 2026
Source confidence & research status
i
Editorial paraphrase · evidence v0.3. AI-assisted editorial assessments; original book editions not independently collated. Attribution and outcome confidence are recorded separately.

Source state: TEXT CONFIRMED IN LISTED SOURCE.

Attribution confidence
MEDIUM
Outcome confidence · deadline / review
HIGH / HIGH
Timing confidence / kind
HIGH · EXACT EVENT
Population
Technology markets and relevant users; no universality unless the forecast expressly requires it.

Our reading of the claim

Reference (stated reasonable reading)

Late

Criterion: A supercomputer sustains approximately 20 petaflops on a named numerical benchmark; this is the explicit hardware-throughput proxy.

Deadline: 2009 · Included in this comparison

At original deadlineNOT FULFILLED
By review dateFULFILLED

The November 2009 TOP500 leader was under 2 petaflops on LINPACK, below the stated 20-petaflop target. Tianhe-2 exceeded 20 petaflops on LINPACK in June 2013. The numerical forecast was late, not unscorable merely because brain equivalence is debated.

Deadline and follow-up notes

At deadline: The November 2009 TOP500 leader was under 2 petaflops on LINPACK, below the stated 20-petaflop target.

By review: Tianhe-2 exceeded 20 petaflops on LINPACK in June 2013. The numerical forecast was late, not unscorable merely because brain equivalence is debated.

Evidence: O18 (opens in a new tab)O19 (opens in a new tab)O20 (opens in a new tab)

View this reading in the scorecard →
01

The forecast and its attribution.

EDITORIAL PARAPHRASE

Supercomputers reach approximately 2×10^16 calculations per second.

Spiritual Machines: The Merging of Man and Machine — Ray Kurzweil

1999 · Attribution / year unconfirmed
Computers and communications in 2009: numerical hardware estimate

AUTHORED ARTICLE THIRD PARTY MIRROR

Source publication: 1999 · Access: text checked

Attributed to Kurzweil; closing note identifies adaptation from The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999). An article mirror, not a scan of the book. Text transcription may contain errors. The article’s dollar amounts must not silently replace differently quoted book versions.

Catalogue entry P02
Open listed source (opens in a new tab)
Normalized claim
Supercomputers reach approximately 2×10^16 calculations per second.
Success criteria
A supercomputer sustains approximately 20 petaflops on a named numerical benchmark; this is the explicit hardware-throughput proxy.
Claim type
Performance / cost
02

Timeline

PREDICTION MADE1999Attributed forecast year; original edition not collated
ORIGINAL TARGET2009Deadline supplied by this assessment
FULL REALIZATION2013Drift: +4y

EXACT EVENT: 2013; +4 years

Outcome at original deadlineNOT FULFILLED
Outcome at reviewFULFILLED

Supplied target wording: 2009. The original deadline is preserved if a later forecast revises it. Forecast horizon: not established. Drift is a calendar-year difference, not a precise elapsed duration.

03

The evidence.

CONTEXT · Publication date not recorded

TOP500 — November 2009 list (opens in a new tab)

Jaguar Rmax 1.759 petaflops; Rpeak 2.331 petaflops. Rmax is measured LINPACK performance, not brain emulation.. Jaguar Rmax 1.759 petaflops; Rpeak 2.331 petaflops. Rmax is measured LINPACK performance, not brain emulation.

Source checked as of 2026-10-15
PRIMARY BENCHMARK DATA

Source publication: 2009-11 · Access: reused checked source

Jaguar Rmax 1.759 petaflops; Rpeak 2.331 petaflops. Rmax is measured LINPACK performance, not brain emulation.

Catalogue entry O18
CONTEXT · Publication date not recorded

TOP500 — November 2012 list (opens in a new tab)

Sequoia Rpeak 20.13266 petaflops and Rmax 16.32475; Titan Rpeak 27.11255 and Rmax 17.59. Peak and measured values must not be mixed.. Sequoia Rpeak 20.13266 petaflops and Rmax 16.32475; Titan Rpeak 27.11255 and Rmax 17.59. Peak and measured values must not be mixed.

Source checked as of 2026-10-15
PRIMARY BENCHMARK DATA

Source publication: 2012-11 · Access: reused checked source

Sequoia Rpeak 20.13266 petaflops and Rmax 16.32475; Titan Rpeak 27.11255 and Rmax 17.59. Peak and measured values must not be mixed.

Catalogue entry O19
CONTEXT · Publication date not recorded

TOP500 — June 2013 highlights (opens in a new tab)

Tianhe-2 recorded 33.86 petaflops Rmax. This establishes a public measured milestone, not a cognition milestone.. Tianhe-2 recorded 33.86 petaflops Rmax. This establishes a public measured milestone, not a cognition milestone.

Source checked as of 2026-10-15
PRIMARY BENCHMARK DATA

Source publication: 2013-06 · Access: reused checked source

Tianhe-2 recorded 33.86 petaflops Rmax. This establishes a public measured milestone, not a cognition milestone.

Catalogue entry O20

Capability, adoption, and timing

A related breakthrough is not automatically fulfillment. Review must check the actual capability, how widely it was required to be used, the specified technology, and the original deadline. A prototype cannot establish a claim about routine or widespread use.

i
Alternative interpretation: This establishes numerical hardware capacity only. Neither 2012 nor 2013 is evidence of simulating a human mind.
04

Research notes & history

This establishes numerical hardware capacity only. Neither 2012 nor 2013 is evidence of simulating a human mind.

Open questions

  • Original-edition collation remains an attribution task; it does not erase the stated outcome assessment.
Imported from
kurzweil_verification_v0_3_package/predictions.canonical.v0.3.json
Legacy identifier
None
Forecast family
F-BRAIN-COMPUTE
Parent statement
Not assigned
File checksum
93ae54d9ea2f1bd1817c481b85e2b707812bcd934c74d0f1715fa098d9b5f51b
Inspect preserved source fields
release_record
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Review history

— Evidence v0.2: LATE. November 2009’s leader was below the threshold. Listed peak performance exceeded it by 2012; publicly listed measured LINPACK performance exceeded it in 2013. This supports a qualified hardware timing miss, with a 3–4-year interval depending on the metric. Change: Complete deadline/current outcome assessment under explicit scope; separate uncertainty from verdict.

— Evidence v0.3: EDITORIAL_ASSESSMENT_COMPLETE; supplied verdict LATE. The November 2009 TOP500 leader was under 2 petaflops on LINPACK, below the stated 20-petaflop target. Tianhe-2 exceeded 20 petaflops on LINPACK in June 2013. The numerical forecast was late, not unscorable merely because brain equivalence is debated.

Related forecasts.

K025$1,000 purchases human-brain computational capacity.K034$1,000 in 1999 dollars buys brain-scale computation.K035$1,000 buys approximately 1,000 brains of computation.