Fenghsiung

Fenghsiung, commonly written as Feng-Hsiung Hsu, is an American computer scientist notable for leading IBM's Deep Blue project, the chess computer that defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. He earned a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University, where his work focused on search algorithms and game-playing AI.

At IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, Hsu directed the Deep Blue development effort. Deep Blue used a combination of a massively parallel search engine, a specialized hardware architecture with custom chess processors, and a domain-specific evaluation function to search the game tree. The system represented a milestone in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing by demonstrating the viability of hardware-accelerated, domain-specific strategies for complex problem solving.

The 1997 victory is widely regarded as a landmark event in AI, highlighting the intersection of software design, hardware engineering, and strategic problem solving. It sparked ongoing discussions about the capabilities and limits of artificial intelligence, human-computer collaboration, and the role of specialized computing in cognitive tasks.

Following Deep Blue, Hsu continued research in AI and high-performance computing and has held academic and industry positions. His work has influenced subsequent developments in game-playing algorithms, specialized computing hardware, and the broader field of AI research.