The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has selected seven sites to host the initiative’s new European AI factories. Besides Finland and Sweden, they will be housed in Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain and Luxembourg.
EuroHPC JU was launched in 2018 and is headquartered in Luxembourg. It is a joint initiative between the EU, 35 European countries, and private partners to develop a supercomputing ecosystem in Europe. The AI factories are a collaborative effort between 15 member states and two EuroHPC participating states. The €1.5 billion investment is a combination of EU and national funding.
LUMI
The new system in Finland will be placed in CSC’s data center in Kajaani, which is also home to the LUMI supercomputer. The existing LUMI ecosystem will be upgraded to better meet the needs of AI-related research and innovation. LUMI-AI will train advanced AI models and develop AI solutions, among other things. Later, the existing LUMI supercomputer will be replaced with a new AI-optimised supercomputer.
The new AI-optimised supercomputer should be at the disposal of researchers and companies by 2027. The consortium behind the LUMI AI Factory is led by Finland, and it includes the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, and Poland. The Finnish government has committed 250 million euros to this project, aiming to enhance AI capabilities and boost economic growth.
Mimer
The National Academic Infrastructure for Supercomputing (NAISS) is responsible for the new AI factory in Sweden – named Mimer – and will be hosted by Linköping University, with RISE as a partner.
“The focus of Mimer will be on things like increased AI expertise in the life sciences, medicine, materials research, autonomous systems and the gaming industry, and the goal is to offer state-of-the-art AI infrastructure and expertise for research and innovation. Both industry and academia will have quick access to hardware, training and support for AI applications", said Matts Karlsson, Vice-Rector for Research at Linköping University.
