Leonardo Ai Computer
The EU is investing €28 million to upgrade the Leonardo supercomputer, currently ranked as the seventh fastest in the world, to enhance its capabilities for AI workloads. This significant investment will boost Leonardo AI performance through new GPUs, CPUs, and high-bandwidth memory, enhancing the system’s efficiency and precision in executing AI tasks.
AI-Focused Upgrades for Leonardo Supercomputer
The upgrade, known as the Leonardo Improved Supercomputing Architecture (LISA) program, will introduce a new partition specifically designed for AI workloads. Leonardo, a pre-exascale system located at Bologna Technopole in Italy, currently boasts 241 petaflops of performance and ranks fifth globally in AI-focused mixed-precision (HPL-MxP) performance, delivering 1.842 exaflops.
As part of the LISA program, the supercomputer could see an increase of up to 650 petaflops of mixed-precision performance, potentially elevating its global AI ranking. This puts Leonardo AI in competition with other top systems like Lumi and Frontier, although its real-world performance may differ from theoretical benchmarks.
Enhanced Specifications and Modular Design
Leonardo AI will benefit from enhanced GPUs that support memory sharing and can train complex AI models. Each node in the new partition will feature at least two CPUs and eight GPUs with a minimum of 1TB of memory. Additionally, the system will include high-speed SSDs and 3.2 terabits per second network interface connectivity.
The modular design of Leonardo and other European supercomputers allows for easier upgrades, including the addition of quantum partitions. The new AI partition will integrate into Leonardo AI‘s existing architecture, which is based on Nvidia GPUs and network cards, positioning the supercomputer for AI advancements in 2024.
Looking Ahead: The Future of European AI Supercomputing
With delivery expected by April next year and installation completed by July, Leonardo AI will play a key role in Europe’s AI supercomputing future. EuroHPC is also working on Jupiter, its first exascale supercomputer, designed with AI in mind, and plans to launch Alice Recoque, another exascale system, in the near future.
This upgrade to Leonardo AI underscores the EU’s commitment to advancing AI technology, ensuring the supercomputer remains competitive in global AI performance rankings.
