One-fifth of U.S. mothers say they have experienced mistreatment by their health care provider during their pregnancy and delivery care and 29% say they have faced discrimination, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with higher rates of such incidents reported among women of color.
Approximately 20% of more than 2,400 women surveyed in a CDC Vital Signs report released Tuesday said they experienced some form of physical neglect or verbal abuse during their maternal care. The report’s findings were based on a survey conducted from April 24 through April 30 by public relations firm Porter Novelli.
Higher rates of mistreatment were reported by mothers who identify with a racial and ethnic minority group, including 30% of Black women, 29% of Hispanic women and 27% of multiracial women during their pregnancy care, compared to 19% of white women and 15% of Asian mothers.
Nearly 30% of women who were uninsured and 26% of those covered by Medicaid reported mistreatment during their maternity care compared to 16% of women with private insurance, according to the analysis.
The most common forms of mistreatment reported by survey respondents included receiving no response to requests for help, being shouted at or scolded, having a lack of physical privacy, and being threatened with the withholding of treatment or being coerced into accepting unwanted treatment.
“This report provides evidence that many women are having experiences that are truly unacceptable,” said Dr. Wanda Barfield, director of the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health in a call with reporters held Tuesday.
In addition, 29% of women surveyed said they experienced at least one form of discrimination during their pregnancy care, with 40% of Black women, 39% of multiracial women, and 37% of Hispanic women reporting such incidents, compared to 26% of white women and 23% of Asian women. The most common reasons for discrimination reported included issues concerning age, weight and income.
“We know mistreatment and discrimination can have a negative impact on the quality of maternity care,” said CDC Chief Medical Office Dr. Debra Houry during a call with reporters.
Houry told the story of Dr. Shalon Irving, an officer within the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service who died in 2017 as a result of high blood pressure three weeks after giving birth.
“As a health care community, we have to do better in providing unbiased and respectful maternity care equally to all mothers,” Houry said.
The report’s findings come at the same time as rising rates of death associated with giving birth in the U.S. The maternal mortality rate increased 89% from 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live birth in 2018 to 32.9 per 100,000 in 2021, according to a March CDC report, with the total number of annual deaths nearly doubling from 658 to 1,205 during that period. And women of color are even worse off than the general population.The maternal mortality rate among Black women increased from 37.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018 to 69.9 per 100,000 in 2021, while the rate among Hispanic women increased by more than two-fold during that same period to 28 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021, surpassing the rate among white women for the first time.
Houry said health care providers can do more to improve maternity care quality by promoting greater cultural competency and diversity within their clinical workforce, as well as focusing on developing practices that result in all maternity patients receiving an equitable standard of care.
“We know that most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable – more than 80%,” Houry said. “Respectful maternity care can be defined as preventing harm and mistreatment, communicating effectively, and providing equitable and unbiased care.”
B |
对此,壁仞科技AI框架架构副总裁丁云帆表示,当前AI发展面临主要挑战是,模型参数从千亿迈向数万亿,Agent等应用场景要求百万级上下文长度,推理和训练都需要成千上万张GPU协同工作。仅凭单张GPU的算力性能,已难以独立承载这些复杂任务。
这就引出了一个产业共同关注的话题:如何能让大量GPU高效协同,像一台超级计算机那样工作。
当前主流的电互连超节点方案正面临规模扩展的物理极限。
C | 随着GPU算力持续增长,互连带宽需求将超过1TB/s,端口速率将达到224Gbps,而铜缆电信号在3米内就会严重衰减。现有电互连超节点一般最多支持128张GPU卡,无论是Cable Tray架构的运维难度,还是正交背板架构的扩展瓶颈,都较难满足下一代数万亿参数大模型对数百卡甚至千卡级超节点的需求。
强如英伟达这样的GPU绝对领军企业也撞上了同一堵墙。其GB200 NVL72机架内,72颗GPU搭配18颗NVSwitch,全部通过铜缆连接,但铜缆传输距离有限,最终限制了单域Scale-up的规模上限。2026年3月的GTC上,黄仁勋宣布要用光互连把GPU系统从NVL72扩展到NVL576(144张Rubin Ultra GPU,共576个GPU芯粒/die)。
D |
这其中的道理并不复杂,电信号在铜缆里跑不了多远,光信号在光纤里能跑几百米。当你要把几百上千张GPU连成一个“超级计算机”时,光的优势是压倒性的。
NPO是当前最佳选择
在光互连超节点的赛道中,壁仞科技并不是突然出现的玩家。2025年,壁仞科技就与上海仪电、曦智科技、中兴通讯合作发布了国内首个光互连光交换GPU超节点“光跃LightSphere X”。这个基于dOCS(分布式光交换)的4机32卡超节点方案,已经部署在上海仪电的国家级算力平台,集群规模达2048卡。该项目在2025年WAIC上获得了最高奖SAIL大奖。
而今年进一步升级到NPO光互连。当前光互连有四种主要技术路线:传统可插拔光模块(FRO)、线性直驱(LPO)、近封装光学(NPO)和共封装光学(CPO)。传统可插拔光模块有一个叫DSP的信号放大器,功耗5到10瓦,还会带来额外延迟。LPO把DSP去掉了,功耗降低,但信号质量变差,只有能定制交换机和服务器的大厂才玩得转。CPO把光引擎和GPU封装成一个芯片,技术最先进但产业化还太远。
E |
NPO则是把光引擎直接与GPU模组融合,去掉高功耗的DSP芯片,传输距离可达数百米,兼具低时延和高带宽密度。“NPO是在性能、功耗、成本和工程可落地性之间取得最佳平衡的方案”,丁云帆解释道。
但壁仞科技真正让行业侧目的,不是NPO技术本身,而是他们把NPO和“分布式解耦架构”结合在一起的做法。
英伟达GB200 NVL72是传统超节点最好的代表,高度定制化的机柜,将GPU节点和交换机节点塞在一起,全部通过铜缆连接。国内很多厂商走的也是类似路线。这种方案的麻烦在于机柜是定制的,没法灵活调整;规模受限于机柜物理空间,扩展困难;运维复杂,一根线断了整个柜子可能都得换。
壁仞科技提出的“NPO光互连、分布式解耦架构”把这件事反过来做。GPU节点和交换机节点物理分离部署,光纤灵活互连,GPU节点采用标准机形态。丁云帆打了个比方:这就像“从大型机变成小型机”。以前超节点是一个定制的“大铁盒子”,现在可以像搭乐高一样灵活扩展到1024卡。
这个思路的差别很大。对芯片厂商来说,不用为每个客户单独定制一套整机柜方案;对客户来说,可以根据自己的需求灵活选择16卡、128卡还是1024卡,不用一上来就买一个“大铁盒子”。壁仞构建了三级超节点产品矩阵:16卡标准服务器超节点(电互连)、128卡高密整机柜超节点(电互连)、以及1024卡分布式解耦架构超节点(NPO光互连)。
F | 16卡和128卡方案预计2027年上半年实现商业化。
在底层,支撑这套方案的是两个核心东西:一是BR2xx系列GPU,沿用壁仞业界首创的Chiplet(芯粒)架构,把多个计算芯粒像拼积木一样组合成一颗高算力芯片,突破单芯片制造的物理限制;二是自研的BLink2.0超节点互连协议,能让最多1024张GPU共享同一个内存空间,多卡如同一台“超级GPU”。
G |
值得注意的是,丁云帆强调,BLink2.0具备可编程能力,是开放生态,不依赖封闭生态,超节点交换机支持多种芯片适配。
NPO光互连超节点还有多远?
虽然壁仞科技将NPO光互连超节点解决方案“端上桌”了,但距离真正的规模商业化还有一定距离。壁仞科技自己给出的时间表是:预计2027年NPO光互连超节点开始商用落地,届时进入小规模商业化验证阶段;到2028年可能实现规模化部署。
放在行业背景下看,这个节奏并不算慢。
H | 英伟达的Rubin Ultra NVL576(同样需要光互连)计划在2027下半年推出。国内互联网大厂如腾讯、阿里、字节也都在布局NPO光互连超节点,但总体上当前还处于技术攻关和样机开发阶段。换句话说,整个行业的头部玩家都在同一条起跑线上。
但超节点从实验室到数据中心,中间隔着大量工程问题。丁云帆坦言,超节点要做到产业化,最大的问题是稳定性和可靠性。“这么一个高度复杂的系统,器件太多了,一个链路坏掉,系统还能不能工作?这是非常关键的。”
为此壁仞科技构建了五层的稳定性防护体系,从芯片物理层的自动纠错,到链路层的重传,到链路折叠,到端口隔离,再到软件层的故障容错。“坏掉一根线,坏掉一个端口,坏掉一个GPU,这个系统都可以工作。”丁云帆如是说。