Nothing puts a damper on the news parade quite like massive layoffs. Intel announced that it would be slashing 15,000 jobs as part of a strategy to tackle financial challenges. CEO Pat Gelsinger personally put his name on the decision with an open letter to employees where he explained the company’s predicament (no mention was made of cutbacks at the executive level).

In other news, Cerabyte secured a strategic investment from Pure Storage to enhance its sustainable data storage solutions. Cerebras Systems submitted a draft registration statement for its proposed IPO, marking a significant milestone for the AI chip company. The University of Georgia is boosting its HPC capabilities with a $2.4 million investment in new GPU compute nodes to support AI research. Lastly, NASA Ames and UC Berkeley have entered into a new agreement to host supercomputing resources.

---

University of Bath Researchers Create Specialty Optical Fibers to Enhance Quantum Computing Networks

BATH, England, July 29, 2024 — A new generation of specialty optical fibers has been developed by physicists at the University of Bath to cope with the challenges of data transfer expected to arise in the future age of quantum computing. Unlike regular optical fibers, the speciality fibers fabricated at Bath have a micro-structured core, consisting of a complex pattern of air pockets running along the entire length of the fiber.

“The conventional optical fibers that are the workhorse of our telecommunications networks of today transmit light at wavelengths that are entirely governed by the losses of silica glass,” said Dr. Kristina Rusimova from the Department of Physics at Bath. “However, these wavelengths are not compatible with the operational wavelengths of the single-photon sources, qubits, and active optical components, that are required for light-based quantum technologies.”

Read the full article here.

NIST Participates in White House Summit on Standards for Critical and Emerging Tech

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 29, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) participated in a summit at the White House last week where representatives of government agencies, industry and standards development organizations discussed the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology.

This strategy promotes technologically sound standards that help American industry compete internationally on a level playing field and is intended to support and complement existing private sector-led standards activities.

“This plan is a call to action,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “It is time for all of us — the U.S. government, our partners and allies, the private sector, academia, professional societies and civil society organizations — to work together to sustain our proven, voluntary, consensus-driven, private sector-led standards system. In short, the release of the Implementation Roadmap is the start of our efforts, not the end.”

Read more here.

D-Wave Announces Roadmap to Extend Leap Quantum Cloud Service for AI/ML

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 29, 2024 — D-Wave Quantum Inc. this week announced it is strengthening the connection between quantum optimization, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), by extending its product development roadmap with enhancements to the Leap quantum cloud service that will bring new Quantum AI solutions to market.

The roadmap is intended to help customers address a variety of AI/ML workloads including pre-training optimization, more accurate and efficient model training, and opening new AI business use cases that require the integration of AI and business optimization, such as quantum supply chain optimization to support AI-predicted product demand requirements.

Read the full announcement here.

EuroHPC Seeks Submissions for Developing Peer-Review Management Platform

LUXEMBOURG, July 29, 2024 — EuroHPC has launched a call for proposals to develop a new platform dedicated to managing the peer-review process for its Access Calls. This essential IT tool will streamline the management of peer-review workflows and improve interactions among various stakeholders, including applicants, EuroHPC JU Peer-Review staff, ARC members, external experts, and support teams.

The initiative aims to ensure fair, transparent, and unbiased access to EuroHPC supercomputers. The call is open for submissions until September 23, 2024, at 17:00 CET.

Read more here.

Alces Flight’s Sustainable Reality Event to Showcase AI and HPC Innovations

BICESTER, England, July 30, 2024 — Alces Flight this week announced its second Sustainable Reality event, scheduled for September 25, 2024, at the historic Bletchley Park. Themed “Move the Needle,” the event will focus on the contributions of individuals in achieving shared goals across various missions.

Attendees can expect immersive experiences, insightful sessions, and presentations from industry pioneers on building and maintaining HPC and AI systems. Highlights include discussions on AI superclusters, sustainable HPC practices, and leveraging neurodiversity for enhanced productivity. The event will conclude with a session on the “Move the Needle” initiative in partnership with Women in HPC.

Read more about the event here.

Cerabyte Secures Strategic Investment from Pure Storage to Enhance Sustainable Data Storage Solutions

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and MUNICH, July 30, 2024 — Cerabyte, a pioneer of ceramic-based data storage solutions, has announced a strategic investment from Pure Storage to help enable sustainable immutable data storage solutions. Additionally, John (Coz) Colgrove, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Pure Storage, joins Cerabyte’s Board of Directors.

“Pure’s investment in Cerabyte and joint partnership will allow us to offer our customers sustainable and immutable data storage solutions that are revolutionizing the industry,” said John (Coz) Colgrove, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Pure Storage. “By disrupting the archival storage market, we are paving the way for longer lasting and easier to manage long-term storage.”

Read more here.

QED-C Releases New Report Highlighting Quantum Tech’s Role in Securing Financial Messaging

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2024 — The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) has released the report “Quantum Technology for Securing Financial Messaging” that explores the potential impact of quantum computing, networking and communications in the financial sector.

This new report assesses quantum-resistant technologies and provides guidance on strategies for achieving security across the sector.

“The advent of quantum computing creates a new cybersecurity challenge for financial institutions, as they will one day become powerful enough to break many of the cryptographic algorithms currently used to protect data and communications,” said Celia Merzbacher, QED-C executive director. “I am grateful to all of the QED-C members and industry leaders who collaborated on this very timely assessment and for the wealth of information this report provides for those making critical security decisions in the financial sector.”

Read the full announcement here.

IQM and Quantistry Sign MoU to Explore Hybrid Classical-Quantum Solutions for Chemical and Material Research

BERLIN and MUNICH, July 30, 2024 — Quantistry, a Berlin-based start-up offering the world’s most intuitive cloud-native chemical simulation platform, and IQM Quantum Computers (IQM), a global leader in building quantum computers, announced today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore hybrid classical-quantum solutions, focusing on R&D challenges in the chemical and material industry.

“We are demonstrating our ongoing commitment to accelerating quantum computing innovation and exploring use cases of industrial relevance by extending our relationship with Quantistry,” said Dr. Peter Eder, Head of Strategic Partnerships at IQM Quantum Computers. “With our strong technical expertise and unique technology, this partnership gives us the opportunity to expand innovation leadership in the quantum ecosystem and show how quantum computing can benefit the chemical and material industries.”

Read more here.

IEEE Quantum Week 2024 Early Bird Registration Ends August 5 for Montréal Event

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 30, 2024 — The IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, known as IEEE Quantum Week, bridges the gap between the science of quantum computing and the growing industry surrounding it. This year’s event takes place September 15-20, 2024 in Montréal.

“Join us at IEEE Quantum Week 2024 in Montréal and dive into the thrilling advancements of quantum computing and engineering,” said Candy Culhane, General Chair for IEEE Quantum Week 2024. “This year, we’re excited to introduce a new quantum photonics and machine learning tracks and an expanded exhibit hall, showcasing the cutting-edge developments and future possibilities in the field. Discover how quantum technology is not just pushing the limits of computation but also transforming a wide array of industries and shaping the future.”

Read the full announcement here.

PNNL Partners with DOE to Improve Access to DOE’s Intellectual Property

RICHLAND, Wash., July 31, 2024 — A new database that makes thousands of the ideas, technologies, methods and software developed by the Department of Energy available in one place has been created by DOE, working closely with software engineers and others at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The Visual Intellectual Property Search database, known as VIPS, makes it easy to perform intellectual property searches and find technologies developed at DOE’s 17 national laboratories and several additional plants and sites. The database contains information on more than 14,000 patents issued for research conducted by DOE scientists and engineers, as well as more than 6,200 available software packages.

The system is designed to increase the real-world impact of thousands of research projects undertaken by DOE employees and its contractors. Nearly all of the research featured in VIPS is available for licensing or open-source use.

Read more here.

ExaWind Leverages Exascale Computing for High-Fidelity Wind Farm Models

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 31, 2024 — Using the Frontier supercomputer, the ExaWind team has performed some of the highest-fidelity wind farm simulations to date. By optimizing computational fluid dynamics codes, ExaWind scaled simulations to 40 billion grid points, doubling initial goals.

This achievement enhances the ability to predict and optimize wind turbine performance, paving the way for advancements in both land-based and offshore wind energy. Collaborative efforts continue to focus on floating offshore turbines, addressing complex challenges with high-performance computing.

Read more about ExaWind here.

TACC Welcomes New Frontera Computational Science Fellows for 2024-2025

AUSTIN, Texas, July 31, 2024 — The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) this week announced the recipients of the Frontera Computational Science Fellowship for 2024-2025. The fellowship provides a year-long opportunity for graduate students to utilize the powerful Frontera supercomputer and collaborate with TACC experts.

This year’s awardees include Chishan Zhang (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Ayodeji Omoniyi (Stevens Institute of Technology), Mikayla Darrows (University of Florida), and Jeffrey Lotthammer (Washington University, St. Louis). Their research spans various fields such as geography, chemical engineering, chemistry, and computational biology.

Read the full article here.

Marvell Launches Structera Product Line for Enhanced Memory Capacity

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 31, 2024 — Marvell Technology, Inc. has launched the Marvell Structera product line of Compute Express Link (CXL) devices that enable cloud data center operators to overcome memory performance and scaling challenges in general-purpose servers.

“Our new Structera CXL product line will be a game-changer in enabling optimal resource utilization and lowering energy consumption for scaling memory-intensive workloads in the cloud,” said Raghib Hussain, president of products and technologies at Marvell. “Marvell is delivering on the promise of CXL and our commitment to customers to help them solve their most challenging issues. CXL will continue to be a critical technology enabler for accelerated infrastructure across our compute, connectivity and storage portfolios.”

Read more here.

Parallel Works Launches ACTIVATE for Unified AI and HPC Management

CHICAGO, July 31, 2024 — Parallel Works this week announced the launch of ACTIVATE, a unified artificial intelligence and high performance computing control plane that simplifies configuration, access and management of compute resources located on-premises and in any major cloud. This enables multi-site and hybrid computing capabilities to power unparalleled innovation across industries. ACTIVATE is ideal for applications with high computing needs, like AI model training, weather modeling, biomedical research and machine learning.

“R&D teams want to focus on their work, whether that is predicting hurricanes with cutting-edge weather models, or achieving the next medical breakthrough,” said Matthew Shaxted, CEO of Parallel Works. “They don’t want to worry about optimizing compute clusters or managing multiple cloud environments, but those are significant challenges that must be solved to produce the best results.”

Read the full announcement here.

SK hynix Introduces High-Performance GDDR7 Graphics Memory

SEOUL, July 31, 2024 — SK hynix Inc. this week announced the introduction of its high-performance GDDR7 graphics memory. This next-generation product boasts an operating speed of 32Gbps, a 60% improvement over the previous generation, with the potential to reach 40Gbps. It also features enhanced power efficiency and advanced heat dissipation technology.

Volume production is set to begin in the third quarter, with applications expected in high-end graphics, AI, high-performance computing, and autonomous driving.

Read more here.

Quantinuum Nexus Beta Now Available for Simplifying Quantum Workflows

CAMBRIDGE, England, July 31, 2024 — Quantinuum this week announced the beta availability of Quantinuum Nexus, a comprehensive platform designed to simplify quantum computing workflows. Nexus offers a full-stack solution, integrating with Quantinuum’s H-Series hardware and other providers.

The platform includes features for running, tracking, and managing quantum resources, as well as a cloud-hosted JupyterHub environment and dedicated simulators. Quantinuum invites users to apply for beta access to explore and customize Nexus for their needs.

Read the full announcement here.

QuEra Launches the QuEra Quantum Alliance with Leading Tech Companies

BOSTON, Aug. 1, 2024 – QuEra Computing this week announced the launch of the QuEra Quantum Alliance Partner Program. This initiative aims to accelerate the development, deployment, and utilization of neutral-atom quantum computers.

“QuEra is thrilled to launch the QuEra Quantum Alliance Partner Program. This program represents our commitment to fostering collaboration and driving innovation in the quantum computing landscape,” said Yuval Boger, Chief Commercial Officer at QuEra Computing, “We look forward to working with our esteemed partners to unlock new possibilities and address some of the most complex computational challenges.”

Read more here.

Cerebras Systems Submits Draft Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering to SEC

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 — Cerebras Systems today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

The size and price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined. The initial public offering is subject to market and other conditions and the completion of the SEC’s review process.

Read more here.

OpenMP ARB Releases Public Comment Draft of OpenMP 6.0

BEAVERTON, Ore., Aug. 1, 2024 — The OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB) has released Technical Report 13, the final public comment draft of version 6.0 of the OpenMP API. Version 6.0 of the OpenMP API will be released in November 2024. Implementers and users are encouraged to provide public comment on the proposed API.

“The final public comment draft includes several new features that significantly expand the ability to exploit available parallelism by refining the ability to specify OpenMP task dependences and through significant extensions to OpenMP device offload support. Further, we have made many changes to support improved navigation of the specification document that simplify understanding of the details of the language’s features,” said Bronis R. de Supinski, Chair of the OpenMP Language Committee.

Read the full announcement here.

n2 Group Acquires Life Sciences and Healthcare Computing Consultancy BioTeam

OXFORD, England, Aug. 2, 2024 — n2 Group, the parent company of NAG, announced the acquisition of BioTeam, a renowned life sciences and healthcare consulting company. BioTeam joins STAC, VSNi, and NAG in the growing community of n2 Group companies.

BioTeam’s deep knowledge of technical computing for life sciences helps clients address complex research, technical, data, and operational challenges. Their integration into the n2 Group supports the company vision of improving the accessibility, quality and robustness of computing solutions to enable greater productivity in engineering and scientific disciplines.

“I am very excited that BioTeam has joined the n2 Group” said Ari Berman, CEO of BioTeam. “Life sciences organizations are increasingly feeling the pain of building complex scientific computing platforms and trying to make sense of increasing volumes of data. We will continue to be BioTeam, but the additional services and capabilities of n2 Group enhance our portfolio and dramatically expand our ability to solve those challenges and accelerate our clients’ science.”

Read the full release here, and see our special coverage here.

University of Georgia Enhances HPC Capabilities with New GPU Compute Nodes for AI Research

ATHENS, Ga., Aug. 2, 2024 — To further expand services for University of Georgia (UGA) researchers utilizing AI, the Georgia Advanced Computing Resource Center will deploy innovative, in-demand equipment to its High-Performance Computing cluster this summer.

This $2.4 million investment by the university will support research computing needs for faculty in a variety of disciplines, including artificial intelligence, data science and bioinformatics, and will be available for use starting in the fall 2024 semester.

UGA’s Enterprise Information Technology Services team will install 26 new Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) compute nodes on the Sapelo2 cluster and three additional compute nodes with significant RAM memory (3 terabytes each) to address specific workloads. The GPU nodes are detailed as 12 quad-H100, 2 quad-A100 and 12 quad-L4 NVIDIA GPUs.

Read more here.

NASA Ames to Host Supercomputing Resources for UC Berkeley Researchers

Aug. 2, 2024 — Under a new agreement, NASA will host supercomputing resources for the University of California, Berkeley, at the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The agreement is part of an expanding partnership between Ames and UC Berkeley and will support the development of novel computing algorithms and software for a wide variety of scientific and technology areas.

According to the agreement, UC Berkeley’s supercomputer and storage systems will be hosted at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility. UC Berkeley researchers will benefit from NASA’s capability in optimizing modern computing codes. NASA will gain from exchanging with the university best practices in operating and maintaining HPC systems.

Read the full article here.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Unveils Plan to Reduce Workforce by 15%

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 2, 2024 — On Thursday Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger sent an open letter to employees that outlined the company’s strategy to tackle financial challenges by implementing significant cost-saving measures, including a substantial reduction in workforce of about 15,000 jobs.

Gelsinger released the letter following Intel’s quarterly earnings report.

Read the entire message here.