Japanese research institution RIKEN has decided it needs GPUs for its next generation “FugakuNEXT” supercomputer and has signed Nvidia to supply them and design the systems needed to get them working.

RIKEN is home to Fugaku, a machine that from mid-2020 spent two years atop the TOP500 list of Earth’s mightiest supercomputers. The machine is still in seventh place, but RIKEN wants an upgrade and has already awarded a contract to Fujitsu to build its successor and the custom Arm-based CPU called “MONAKA-X” that will power it.

On Friday, the institution announced a change to its plan: Adding Nvidia GPUs, and contracting the AI hardware giant to design systems that incorporate its accelerators into the supercomputer.

RIKEN said Nvidia’s design “will explore the adoption of cutting-edge con

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