GPU

¹ American  

[gey-pey-oo, jee-pee-yoo] / ˈgeɪˌpeɪˈu, ˈdʒiˌpiˈyu /

Or G.P.U.

abbreviation

1. (in the Soviet Union) the secret-police organization (1922–23) functioning under the NKVD.

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GPU ² American  

abbreviation

1. General Postal Union. See Universal Postal Union.

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GPU ³ American  

abbreviation

Computers.

1. graphics processing unit: a secondary processor usually dedicated to performing the calculations necessary for producing computer graphics, lessening the burden on the main processor.

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GPU British  

abbreviation

1. State Political Administration; the Soviet police and secret police from 1922 to 1923

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Etymology

Origin of GPU¹

From Russian G(osudárstvennoe) p(olitícheskoe) u(pravlénie) “state political directorate”

Origin of GPU³

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

In data centers, electricity is often distributed at 48 volts, while GPU processors typically require much lower voltages, usually between 1 and 5 volts.

From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026

CoreWeave will deploy Meta’s dedicated capacity across multiple locations, which will include advanced graphics processing unit, or GPU, clusters.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

“The revolution was more on the GPU side. Now it’s on the entire system. CPUs have always been part of the AI fabric, but now there’s a massive increase in need for them.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Ultimately, Super Micro’s fate will rest solely on whether it can continue getting allocations of GPU chips from Nvidia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Nebius is the only AI-compute provider with a “truly global GPU fabric,” Liani highlighted, adding that other neoclouds can only virtualize within a single physical facility.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026