Google’s TurboQuant has the internet joking about Pied Piper from HBO's "Silicon Valley." The compression algorithm promises to shrink AI’s “working memory” by up to 6x, but it’s still just a lab experiment for now.
Google unveils TurboQuant, a new AI memory compression algorithm — and yes, the internet is calling it ‘Pied Piper’ Sarah Perez 1:38 PM PDT · March 25, 2026 If Google’s AI researchers had a sense of humor, they would have called TurboQuant , the new, ultra-efficient AI memory compression algorithm announced Tuesday, “Pied Piper” — or, at least that’s what the internet thinks .
The joke is a reference to the fictional startup Pied Piper that was the focus of HBO’s “Silicon Valley” TV series that ran from 2014 to 2019.
The show followed the startup’s founders as they navigated the tech ecosystem, facing challenges like competition from larger companies, fundraising, technology and product issues, and even ( much to our delight) wowing the judges at a fictional version of TechCrunch Disrupt .
Pied Piper’s breakthrough technology on the TV show was a compression algorithm that greatly reduced file sizes with near-lossless compression.