HPC news can get pretty sleepy in June and July, but this week saw a bump in activity midweek as Americans realized they still had work to do after the previous holiday weekend. The world outside the United States also seemed to be taking a siesta. But from advancements in crisis preparedness at HLRS to significant funding boosts for quantum computing and AI collaborations, this week’s highlights are anything but sedate.

Notable developments include planqc’s major funding round, the ARDC and Pawsey’s strengthened partnership, and a host of exciting new projects and partnerships pushing the boundaries of HPC and AI. Dive in to stay updated on these pivotal moments shaping the industry.

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HLRS Explores HPC Solutions for Public Administration Crisis Preparedness

STUTTGART, Germany, July 8, 2024 — In collaboration with the Duisburg fire department, HLRS is developing a real-time simulation tool for predicting flooding along the Rhine. Additionally, with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, HLRS is planning a Computational Immediate Response Center for Emergencies (CIRCE) to provide rapid access to HPC resources for crisis management. The recent CIRCE symposium highlighted the potential of HPC in disaster response and the need for improved public administration awareness and digital competencies.

Read the full article here.

planqc Secures €50M Series A Funding to Advance Atom-Based Quantum Computing

GARCHING, Germany, July 8, 2024 — planqc has secured €50 million in Series A funding led by CATRON Holding and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds.

Alexander Glätzle, CEO and co-founder of planqc, stated, “This latest investment round is a strong endorsement of our technology as a leading platform for quantum applications. The substantial backing places us in a perfect position to take on global competitors with our ‘Made in Germany’ quantum computers, targeting an emerging market valued at billions of euros.”

planqc’s technology, developed from award-winning research at the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ), aims to rapidly advance industry-relevant quantum computers. The new financing will be used to establish a quantum computing cloud service and develop quantum software for applications in industries such as chemistry, healthcare, climate-tech, automotive, and finance.

Read more here.

Australian Research Data Commons and Pawsey Strengthen Collaboration with New MOU

PERTH, Australia, July 8, 2024 — The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen collaboration and create a more efficient research environment for Australian researchers.

“Joining forces with ARDC underscores our commitment to supporting the national research community,”  said Mark Stickells, CEO Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. “By combining our resources and expertise, we are not only enhancing the accessibility of digital research infrastructure but also fostering a more collaborative and efficient ecosystem.”

Read the full announcement here.

Zapata AI and D-Wave Quantum Announce Expanded Partnership for Advanced Generative AI Solutions

BOSTON and PALO ALTO, Calif., July 8, 2024 — Zapata AI and D-Wave announced an expansion to their joint commercial partnership, designed to accelerate the development and delivery of integrated quantum and generative AI solutions in D‑Wave’s Leap cloud platform. The new agreement leverages Zapata’s Universal Generative AI software for rapid development and builds upon D-Wave’s Leap real‑time quantum cloud service to support quantum, hybrid quantum, and classical AI solutions.

“Our strategic relationship with Zapata AI brings us another step closer to delivering to our customers the transformative combined power of Universal Generative AI and quantum computing in a single cloud platform,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Zapata and leverage their industry-leading algorithmic capabilities and scientific expertise to bring a quantum-enabled generative AI platform to market.”

Read more here.

Argonne Develops New Kind of AI Model for Weather Prediction

LEMONT, Ill., July 9, 2024 — Researchers from private sector companies like Nvidia and Google have started developing AI foundation models for weather forecasting. Recently, scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, in close collaboration with researchers Aditya Grover and Tung Nguyen at the UCLA, have begun to investigate this alternative type of model. This model could produce in some cases even more accurate forecasts than the existing numerical weather prediction models at a fraction of the computational cost.

Some of these models outperform current models’ prediction capability beyond seven days, giving scientists an additional window into the weather.

Read the full article here.

Fastweb Unveils Italy’s 1st NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD AI Supercomputer

MILAN, July 9, 2024 — Fastweb has announced the launch of NeXXt AI Factory, the first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD AI supercomputer operating in Italy.

Fastweb is now offering the extensive computing power of the NeXXt AI Factory, along with the initial release of its Fastweb MIIA (Italian Artificial Intelligence Model) language model, to start-ups, companies, universities, and public administrations. This initiative aims to foster the development of AI and Gen AI services and applications.

“With NeXXt AI Factory and MIIA, we are defining our approach to artificial intelligence to help enable Italy’s full independence and technological sovereignty,” said Walter Renna, CEO of Fastweb.

Read the full announcement here.

Riverlane Unveils Three-Year Quantum Error Correction Roadmap

CAMBRIDGE,, England, July 9, 2024 — Riverlane has released a three-year roadmap for its Quantum Error Correction Stack, Deltaflow. The roadmap aims to achieve one million (Mega) error-free Quantum Operations (QuOps) by 2026, a significant milestone for the industry. The company is partnering with leading quantum hardware companies to reach this goal and establish a new industry standard for quantum operations.

“The MegaQuOp is a critical milestone, but it’s just the first step on the journey to full fault-tolerant quantum computing,” said Earl Campbell, VP of quantum science at Riverlane. “We’ll need to realize a trillion error-free operations to begin fully unlocking the higher value applications of quantum computing, but this is a critical set of milestones in that journey.”

Read the full announcement here.

FFplus Project Launches Open Calls for SMEs to Leverage HPC and AI Tech

STUTTGART, Germany, July 9, 2024 — With over a decade-long history and a strong reputation in Europe, the Fortissimo projects were granted a budget of €42.8 million and successfully executed more than 130 experiments involving more than 300 partners. These efforts have resulted in 120 success stories from over 20 EU countries, where SMEs developed new products and services with the help of HPC and AI, thereby bolstering the EU economy.

“FFplus aims to provide SMEs and Start-ups with the framework they need to be competitive, successful and create value in the digital economy,” said Project Coordinator Bastian Koller. “This makes FFplus an important link between the implementation of the European HPC and AI strategy and the SMEs and Start-ups that can benefit massively from it. With financial support, access to state-of-the-art EuroHPC resources and expert advice on both technical and business development, we are committed to a vibrant and innovative industrial landscape in Europe.”

Read the full announcement here.

HPC User Forum Announces September Meeting at Argonne Lab with AI and Industry Focus

ST PAUL, Minn., July 9, 2024 — The HPC User Forum, established in 1999 to promote the health of the global HPC industry and address issues of common concern to users, has opened registration for its upcoming meeting, September 4-5, 2024, at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois.

This event will focus on real-world uses of AI in industry, science, and energy, focusing on the challenges of making AI fully useful (hardware, software, data, models, etc.).

“We are very excited to spotlight AI with an array of notable speakers and at an ideal location such as Argonne National Laboratory,” said Earl Joseph, CEO of Hyperion Research.

Click here for more details.

CoolIT Systems Launches 3 High-Density Coolant Distribution Units for AI and HPC

CALGARY, Alberta, July 9, 2024 — CoolIT Systems announced the launch of three new models in its lineup of Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs): AHx240, AHx180 and CHx500. These CDUs are engineered to meet the most demanding direct liquid cooling requirements for artificial intelligence, HPC, and enterprise computing applications – delivering exceptional performance, density, efficiency and reliability.

“Our engineering team has designed these new CDUs to deliver the highest performance and density in the industry, with flow rates that meet the demanding requirements for AI systems,” said Patrick McGinn, Chief Operating Officer of CoolIT. “We are excited to be producing these products in our new Canadian facility, at scale, and with immediate availability.”

Read more here.

EDF, Alice & Bob, Quandela and CNRS Partner to Optimize Quantum Computing’s Energy Efficiency

PARIS, July 10, 2024 — French electric utility company EDF, in collaboration with quantum computing firms Quandela and Alice & Bob, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS – Centre national de la recherche scientifique), has launched a project to optimize energy consumption in quantum computing. The “Energetic Optimisation of Quantum Circuits” (OECQ) project will initially compare the energy requirements of high-performance computing (HPC) systems with those of quantum computers, based on industry use cases.

“As co-founders of the Quantum Energy Initiative, our CNRS team is extremely excited by OECQ, which is the first large project devoted to the exploration of a quantum energetic advantage in real quantum computers,” said Alexia Auffèves, CNRS Senior Scientist.

Read the full article here.

Quantum Innovation Summit 2025 in Dubai to Showcase Cutting-Edge Quantum Tech

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, July 10, 2024 — The Quantum Innovation Summit 2025, set to take place from February 25-27 at The H Hotel in Dubai and online, promises to be a landmark event in the world of quantum technology.

The Summit will bring together leading quantum scientists, industry experts, researchers, policymakers, investors, and innovators from over 50 countries. This diverse gathering aims to explore groundbreaking advancements in quantum technology and foster collaborations that will shape the future.

Read more here.

AMD to Acquire Silo AI to Expand Enterprise AI Solutions Globally

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 10, 2024 — AMD recently announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Silo AI, the largest private AI lab in Europe, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $665 million.

“Silo AI’s team of trusted AI experts and proven experience developing leadership AI models and solutions, including state-of-the-art LLMs built on AMD platforms, will further accelerate our AI strategy and advance the build-out and rapid implementation of AI solutions for our global customers,” said Vamsi Boppana, senior vice president of the Artificial Intelligence Group at AMD.

Read the full announcement here.

Manchin, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Advance AI Leadership Using DOE’s National Labs

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2024 — On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the bipartisan Department of Energy AI Act to advance American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) by harnessing the existing National Laboratory infrastructure and workforce at the Department of Energy (DOE).

“This bipartisan legislation will leverage the agency’s existing world-class laboratory test facilities, scientific workforce, and advanced computing resources to strengthen our country’s AI capabilities to remain the superpower of the world in energy, national security, and economic competitiveness,” said Chairman Manchin. “Deploying our existing lab infrastructure and scientific expertise for AI instead of starting from scratch will also safeguard taxpayer dollars and allow for us to move quickly.”

Read more about the legislation here.

ORNL Leverages Frontier for Major Updates to SuperLU and STRUMPACK

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 10, 2024 –Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has made significant updates to the SuperLU and STRUMPACK solvers using the Frontier supercomputer. These updates enhance the efficiency of solving sparse linear systems in high-resolution simulations, essential for projects like the ITER tokamak. The advancements include optimizing these solvers for GPU-accelerated architectures, addressing technical challenges in distributed parallel computing, and developing new factorization methods to reduce memory and data movement.

These solvers are now implemented in key simulation codes such as M3D-C1, Omega3P, and MFEM. Future developments will focus on optimizing for AI and machine learning applications.

Read more here.

Altair Releases Altair HyperWorks 2024

TROY, Mich., July 10, 2024 — Altair recently announced the release of Altair HyperWorks 2024, a leading platform for design and simulation. The latest release delivers significant advancements in AI-powered engineering and business, mechanical and electronics systems design, and simulation-driven design and optimization.

“Altair HyperWorks 2024 is the only platform offering a unified, modern user experience across any geometry, physics, and complexity and at every stage of the product development life cycle from design to in-service,” said James R. Scapa, founder and CEO of Altair. “With AI-embedded workflows, game-changing photorealistic graphics, and a unified back-end data system, Altair HyperWorks is the foundation upon which many of the world’s most innovative digital engineering practices are being built.”

Read the full announcement here.

University of Cologne Advances Study of Topological Quantum Computing with Recent Discovery

COLOGNE, Germany, July 10, 2024 — A team of experimental physicists led by the University of Cologne have shown that it is possible to create superconducting effects in special materials known for their unique edge-only electrical properties. This discovery provides a new way to explore advanced quantum states that could be crucial for developing stable and efficient quantum computers.

Their study, titled “Induced superconducting correlations in a quantum anomalous Hall insulator,” has been published in Nature Physics.

Read more here.

HPE to Deliver AIST’s Next-Gen Supercomputer for Generative AI Powered by NVIDIA

TOKYO, July 11, 2024 — HPE announced it will build a new supercomputer powered by NVIDIA for one of Japan’s largest research institutions, AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology). AIST’s next-generation supercomputer, ABCI (AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure) 3.0, will be offered as a cloud service to public and private organizations to support large foundational models for generative AI to accelerate the advancement of research, development, innovation, and social implementation.

“Every nation needs its own AI infrastructure to drive innovation and growth,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Working alongside HPE and AIST, we will help Japan leverage its unique capabilities and data to boost productivity, invigorate its economy, and advance scientific discovery.”

Read the full announcement here.

Qubit Pharmaceuticals and Sorbonne University Reduce Number of Qubits Needed to Simulate Molecules

PARIS, July 11, 2024 — Qubit Pharmaceuticals announced that it has drastically reduced the number of qubits needed to compute the properties of small molecules with its Hyperion-1 emulator, developed in partnership with Sorbonne Université.

“These innovative approaches developed by Qubit Pharmaceuticals are an illustration of Sorbonne Université’s commitment to serving society,” said Élisabeth Angel-Perez, Vice-President Research and Innovation at Sorbonne Université.

As a result of these advances, Qubit Pharmaceuticals and Sorbonne Université are announcing that they have been awarded €8 million in funding under the France 2030 national plan for the further development of Hyperion-1.

Read more here.

SURF’s Latest Snellius Upgrade Enhances AI Research Capabilities with NVIDIA H100 GPUs

UTRECHT, Netherlands, July 11, 2024 — SURF, the collaborative organization for IT in Dutch education and research, has commissioned  a new expansion of Snellius, the Netherlands’ most powerful supercomputer. The expansion increases Snellius’ performance from 15 PFlop/s to almost 38 PFlop/s.

The expansion includes the addition of 352 NVIDIA H100 GPUs distributed across 88 nodes, and increases the theoretical performance of Snellius from 15 PFlop/s to nearly 38 PFlop/s. This allows Snellius to perform complex calculations even faster.

Read the full announcement here.

Quantinuum and STFC Hartree Centre Partner to Advance Quantum Research in the UK

LONDON and BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 11, 2024 — Quantinuum announced a new partnership with the STFC Hartree Centre, one of Europe’s largest supercomputing centers dedicated to industry engagement. The partnership will provide UK industrial and scientific users access to Quantinuum’s H-Series via the cloud and on-premise.

Both organizations aim to support UK businesses and research organizations in exploring quantum advantage in quantum chemistry, computational biology, quantum artificial intelligence and quantum-augmented cybersecurity.

Read the full announcement here.

Oxford Ionics Sets Industry Records for Two-Qubit and Single-Qubit Gate Performance

OXFORD, England, July 11, 2024 — Oxford Ionics has demonstrated the highest performing quantum chip in the world, which can be produced at scale in a standard semiconductor fabrication plant.

Dr. Michael Cuthbert, Director of the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, said: “The reported one and two qubit gate results outperform other players’ achievements to date, meaning error correction becomes achievable with minimal overheads. This performance underpins the proprietary architecture Oxford Ionics will deliver to the National Quantum Computing Centre as part of our Quantum Computing Testbed procurement, and we are really excited to see both how this will be deployed, and how we will be able to use these ultra-high performance qubits for the development of algorithms and new applications.”

Read more here.

Kipu Quantum Acquires PlanQK to Boost Development of Industrially Relevant Quantum Solutions

KARLSRUHE, Germany, July 11, 2024 — Kipu Quantum announced on Thursday the strategic acquisition of PlanQK, a quantum computing platform successfully built and commercialized by Anaqor AG. Along with its platform, key members from its team of experts joined Kipu Quantum to lead the way in making useful quantum computing accessible to organizations of all sizes, including industrial, academic, and governmental entities.

“Kipu Quantum’s massively compressed algorithms enable the use of today’s quantum processors across multiple industries to solve industrially sized problems, without waiting a decade for massive quantum computers,” said Daniel Volz, CEO of Kipu Quantum. “Making our world-leading algorithm services accessible through the PlanQK platform will make our capabilities available to a much wider audience.”

Read the full announcement here.

NSF and TACC Partner to Launch New Leadership-Class Computing Facility

AUSTIN, Texas, July 11, 2024 — The U.S. National Science Foundation has begun construction on the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF), a cutting-edge facility led by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) that will advance computational research and development.

“This new facility represents a sea change in the way NSF invests in large-scale computing — a sustained investment on a time scale that matches the lifetime of other large scientific instruments and collaborations,” said Dan Stanzione, the executive director of TACC and principal investigator for the new facility. “Together with our partners at UT and around the country, this facility will provide a new class of cyberinfrastructure services — spanning machines and people — to researchers around the world to advance science and advance society.”

Read the full article here.

EuroHPC and AQT Sign Procurement Contract for EuroQCS-Poland Quantum Computer

POZNAN, Poland, July 11, 2024 — The procurement contract of EuroQCS-Poland, the EuroHPC quantum computer to be located in Poland, has been signed by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and AQT, the selected vendor.

EuroQCS-Poland will be a digital, gate-based quantum computer, based on trapped-ions offering 20-plus physical qubits.

This quantum computer will primarily target research and innovation and will be available to a wide range of European end-users, spanning from the scientific community to industry and the public sector. It will support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe and adding new capabilities to the European supercomputing infrastructure.

Read more here.

QuSecure Backs NVIDIA’s cuPQC Initiative to Advance Post-Quantum Cryptography

SAN MATEO, Calif., July 12, 2024 — QuSecure has joined NVIDIA and a select group of technology leaders in supporting NVIDIA’s cuPQC, a recently launched pioneering library set to redefine cryptography in the quantum era.

“QuSecure is proud to collaborate with NVIDIA as part of a vital alliance under the Linux Foundation, dedicated to cultivating an open-source repository of post-quantum algorithms and applications,” said Rebecca Krauthamer, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at QuSecure. “NVIDIA’s commitment to empowering developers in the post-quantum cryptography domain with cuPQC now accessible in an open beta release is particularly important in this global effort, as cyberattacks on data and networks are growing exponentially every year.”

Read more here.

NCSA: Illinois Computes Research Notebooks Program Grows Rapidly, Adds More NVIDIA GPUs

URBANA, Ill., July 12, 2024 — The Illinois Computes Research Notebooks (ICRN) project launched in 2023, continuing the program mission to democratize research computing and make computing resources and support more accessible to campus through the open-source software Jupyter Notebooks. ICRN takes care of the hosting and maintenance of this Jupyter Notebooks service, removing those responsibilities from the researchers and allowing them to focus completely on their work.

Demand has grown so much that Illinois Computes has invested additional resources to support the project, including a handful of additional Nvidia A100 GPUs.

“The demand for GPUs alone shows how much the service has grown over time,” said Senior Technical Program Manager Christopher Heller. “The service started with one Nvidia A100 GPU and has now grown to a total of six available for researchers.”

Read the full article here.

EuroHPC JU Awards Contracts for the Discoverer Supercomputer Upgrade

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 12, 2024 — The procurement contracts for the upgrade of the EuroHPC supercomputer Discoverer have been signed by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and the selected companies, A1 Bulgaria and Eviden.

The upgrade will increase the supercomputer’s operational performance, and provide new functionalities to address the evolution of user needs. With this upgrade, the EuroHPC JU is seizing the opportunity provided in Regulation 2021/1173 to extend the capacities of its supercomputers and implement its mission to deploy in Europe a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure.

Read more here.

LANL and OpenAI Partner to Advance AI Safety in Biological Threat Assessments

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 12, 2024 — Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are working with OpenAI on an evaluation study to bolster artificial intelligence safety. The upcoming evaluation will be the first of its kind and contribute to state-of-the-art research on AI biosecurity evaluations.

AI-enabled biological threats could pose a significant risk, but existing work has not assessed how multimodal, frontier models could lower the barrier of entry for non-experts to create a biological threat. The team’s work will build upon previous work and follow OpenAI’s Preparedness Framework, which outlines an approach to tracking, evaluating, forecasting and protecting against emerging biological risks.

Read the full article here.