Frontier, a supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, is the first to demonstrate performing a billion billion calculations—known as one quintillion—per second, according to the Top500 ranking. (The New York Times)

Talking point: Some experts caution that two Chinese systems, which have not submitted results, may have beaten the Frontier already. China has likely not revealed its outcomes due to ongoing tensions with the U.S., the experts said. A Japanese system held the top spot for two years before Frontier bested it, according to the list, which has tracked the world’s fastest computers since 1993. The highest-ranked Canadian system was No. 69, claimed by the Underhill of Shared Services Canada. Canada has a total of 14 systems on the list.