Japan is taking a significant step forward in its artificial intelligence capabilities with the development of the ABCI 3.0 supercomputer, powered by thousands of NVIDIA H200 GPUs and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. This advanced AI computing infrastructure is designed to accelerate research and development in generative AI, robotics, and quantum computing.
The project is a collaboration between Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), and NVIDIA. AIST Executive Officer Yoshio Tanaka and AIST Solutions Co. Producer Hirotaka Ogawa emphasized the importance of rapidly cultivating research and development capabilities in Japan to stay competitive in the global AI landscape.
The ABCI 3.0 supercomputer, housed in Kashiwa, is expected to come online by the end of this year, offering state-of-the-art AI research and development resources with unmatched computing performance and efficiency. NVIDIA’s commitment to Japan’s future was reinforced during a visit by company founder and CEO Jensen Huang, who pledged to collaborate on research, invest in AI startups, and provide product support, training, and education on AI.
Enhancing Japan’s AI Sovereignty with Advanced ABCI 3.0 Supercomputer
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is set to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities with the integration of thousands of NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs into its AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure 3.0 supercomputer (ABCI 3.0). This collaboration marks a significant milestone in Japan’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities and fortifying its technological independence.
The ABCI 3.0 project is constructed and operated by AIST, its business subsidiary, AIST Solutions, and its system integrator, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The initiative follows support from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) for strengthening its computing resources through the Economic Security Fund. This investment is part of a broader $1 billion initiative by METI that includes both ABCI efforts and investments in cloud AI computing.
NVIDIA’s Commitment to Japan’s Future
NVIDIA is closely collaborating with METI on research and education, following a visit last year by company founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, who met with political and business leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. During his visit, Huang emphasized the importance of “AI factories” — next-generation data centers designed to handle the most computationally intensive AI tasks — in turning vast amounts of data into intelligence.
Huang pledged to collaborate on research, particularly in generative AI, robotics, and quantum computing, to invest in AI startups and provide product support, training, and education on AI. This commitment underscores NVIDIA’s role as a key player in Japan’s AI development landscape.
Unmatched Computing Performance and Efficiency
The ABCI 3.0 supercomputer is expected to come online by the end of this year and offer state-of-the-art AI research and development resources. The facility will provide unmatched computing performance and efficiency, featuring:
- 6 AI exaflops of computing capacity, a measure of AI-specific performance without sparsity
- 410 double-precision petaflops, a measure of general computing capacity
- Each node is connected via the Quantum-2 InfiniBand platform at 200GB/s of bisectional bandwidth
NVIDIA technology forms the backbone of this initiative, with hundreds of nodes each equipped with 8 NVLink-connected H200 GPUs providing unprecedented computational performance and efficiency. The H200’s larger and faster memory accelerates generative AI and large language models (LLMs), while advancing scientific computing for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads with better energy efficiency and lower total cost of ownership.
Accelerating Joint AI R&D
The integration of advanced NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand with in-network computing ensures efficient, high-speed, low-latency communication, crucial for handling intensive AI workloads and vast datasets. ABCI boasts world-class computing and data processing power, serving as a platform to accelerate joint AI R&D with industries, academia, and governments.
METI’s substantial investment is a testament to Japan’s strategic vision to enhance AI development capabilities and accelerate the use of generative AI. By subsidizing AI supercomputer development, Japan aims to reduce the time and costs of developing next-generation AI technologies, positioning itself as a leader in the global AI landscape.
External Link: Click Here For More
