The Connection Machines were among the first commercial supercomputers with ‘massively parallel’ architecture. Created by Danny Hillis for Artificial Intelligence and symbolic processing in the 1980s and early 90s, they marked a radical shift in the potential of computation and design.
Designed by a team led by Tamiko Thiel, the CM-2 was meant to feel like a member of the family. The Connection Machines introduced a new, more personal paradigm for modern design. Inspired by the human brain, they embodied the dream of an artificially intelligent machine.
The CM-5 was the last Connection Machine. With the rise of commodity microprocessors and the booming personal computing market, supercomputers, whose architecture was built on expensive proprietary systems, couldn’t compete. Their legacy lives on in modern high-performance computers and the AI systems we use today.