NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang alongside the king of Denmark – HM King Frederik X launched the country’s largest sovereign AI supercomputer. It is aimed at breakthroughs in quantum computing, clean energy, biotechnology, and other areas serving Danish society and the world.
The country’s first AI supercomputer, Gefion, is named after a goddess in Danish mythology. Gefion is operated by the Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI), a company established with funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark.
The new AI supercomputer was turned on by King Frederik X of Denmark, Huang, and Nadia Carlsten, CEO of DCAI, at an event in Copenhagen.
More details about Gefion
The NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD AI supercomputer is powered by 1,528 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and interconnected using NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking.
Global data centre provider Digital Realty hosts the supercomputer in one of its AI-ready data centre facilities in Denmark. The data centre is designed and built to be sustainable and runs on 100% renewable energy. Eviden, the European leader in high-performance computing (HPC), has assembled and installed the computer using its vast experience and expertise in HPC integration and installation.
First use cases of Gefion
The supercomputer alongside NVIDIA will help enable Denmark to carry out large-scale projects in numerous sectors where AI is a valuable tool and within AI research itself. In selected flagship project areas, researchers can engage with expert teams from NVIDIA to co-develop solutions to complex problems.
It finds use in research in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology using the NVIDIA BioNeMo platform, including protein design; the acceleration of the green transition; and the development of fault-tolerant quantum computing using NVIDIA CUDA-Q, an open-source hybrid quantum computing platform.
Already, there have been considerable interest in Gefion from researchers in Danish private and public sectors looking to access the chipmaker’s AI technology to take on large-scale and data-intensive projects.
Gefion’s pilot projects
DCAI announced 6 winning proposals that will run as part of Gefion’s pilot phase. These projects are detailed below:
“Large-scale distributed simulation of quantum algorithms for quantifying molecular recognition processes.Unravelling CO2 reduction in Non-Metal Formate Dehydrogenase (FDH) using Machine-Learned Force Fields.Multimodal genomic foundation model.Multi-Modal Document Understanding: Transforming Data Entry with Multi-Modal Precision.Building an AI Care Companion with Large Video Pretraining.SAPIEN – Skilful Atmospheric Prediction with Intelligent Environmental Networks.
How will it help Denmark?
The Gefion supercomputer will bolster Denmark’s green transition by enabling advanced data analysis and simulations that drive sustainable solutions. It provides Danish companies with tailored computing power to innovate in areas like energy, climate research, and green tech, enhancing their competitive edge globally. This infrastructure supports Denmark’s push toward cutting-edge research and technology, vital for future growth and resilience.
“Gefion provides our Danish enterprises with entirely new opportunities,” said Morten Bødskov, the Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs. “Gefion will drive the advancement of the green transition, enable tailor-made solutions, and strengthen the competitive standing of our companies in the global market. In a time of heightened international competition, this supercomputer acts as a vital enabler for advancing Danish businesses into the future. This ground-breaking technology represents an important opportunity for Danish companies and researchers to develop innovative solutions to future challenges.”
“It’s a remarkable achievement that it has taken only six months from announcement to completion of this complex state-of-the-art supercomputer,” said Nadia Carlsten, CEO of DCAI. “I am extremely proud of the team that came together and collaborated to turn this vision into a reality, delivering a leading capability that is now ready for customers to start testing new use cases. Gefion is the game-changer that many innovators had been waiting for.”
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, added: “Denmark recognises that to innovate in AI, the most impactful technology of our time, it must foster a domestic AI infrastructure and ecosystem. The Gefion supercomputer will supercharge the scientists of Denmark with local AI computing infrastructure to drive advancements in life sciences, climate research and quantum computing.”
The post Denmark gets first AI supercomputer Gefion with NVIDIA: Here’s how it will help appeared first on Tech Funding News.