General-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU, GPGP or less often GP²U) is the means of using a graphics processing unit (GPU), which typically handles computation only for computer graphics, to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by the central processing unit (CPU). Any GPU providing a functionally complete set of operations performed on arbitrary bits can compute any computable value. Additionally, the use of multiple graphics cards in one computer, or large numbers of graphics chips, further parallelizes the already parallel nature of graphics processing.

In principle, any boolean function can be built-up from a functionally complete set of logic operators. An early example of general purpose computing with a GPU involved performing additions by using an early stream processor called a blitter to invoke a special sequence of logical operations on bit vectors. Such methods are seldom used today as modern GPUs now include support for more advanced mathematical operations including addition, multiplication, and often certain transcendental functions.