University of Florida (UF), in partnership with NVIDIA, is building the world's fastest artificial intelligence-based supercomputer in higher education. When completed, the supercomputer would run at 700 petaflops. The project is estimated to cost about $70 million, out of which $25 million is from NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky, who went to UF, and $25 million from the firm in hardware, software, training, and services. The rest would come from UF that will be used to build a data center.
With the partnership, UF can become one of the leading AI universities in the U.S., and advance academic research. This effort will also assist in addressing some of the state's most complex challenges, including rising seas, aging populations, food insecurity, and more. Ron DeSantis, Florida's Governor, remarked:
“This is going to be a tremendous partnership. As we look to keep our best talent in-state, this will be a significant carrot, you’ll also see people around the country want to come to Florida.”
Additionally, UF will work closely with the Santa Clara firm to improve its existing supercomputer, HiPerGator, by integrating the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD architecture. The system will be functional by early 2021.
