hessian.AI’s supercomputer ‘fortythree’ starts operation and achieves top position in the international Top500 ranking of supercomputers
The AI supercomputer ‘fortythree’ of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI) has achieved an impressive position of 108th place on the current Top500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, setting new standards in terms of performance and energy efficiency. This underlines Hesse’s leading role in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Top500 list, which was presented on November 18, 2024 at the Supercomputing Conference in Atlanta, evaluates the computing power and energy efficiency of supercomputers, among other things. ‘fortythree’ is the best-placed Hessian computer and takes eighth place among the 41 installations from Germany listed in the ranking. This ranking strengthens Hesse’s innovative power and confirms the technical excellence of hessian.AI in the field of high-performance computing.
‘fortythree’ is the first expansion stage of the high-performance computer ‘fortytwo’ and takes the performance of hessian.AI to a new dimension. This extension makes it possible to efficiently develop and test even more sophisticated AI models.
Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt and Chair of the Board of Trustees of hessian.AI, congratulates: With the new AI supercomputer ‘fortythree’, hessian.AI is further developing the center’s unique infrastructure for scientists and users in a forward-looking way. With ‘fortythree’ as a further outstanding building block for strong AI made in Hessen, new opportunities are opening up to drive forward the innovations of tomorrow and beyond. In exchange with partners in business and society, powerful solutions for global challenges are created. I would like to thank the Hessian state government and the federal government for their support, which is significantly promoting the further development of excellent framework conditions in hessian.AI.”
“This remarkable ranking in the internationally renowned Top500 list is further testimony to hessian.AI as a success story. The demand for such AI-specific computing capacities will increase in the future as more and more AI-based models and systems are brought into use. With ‘fortytwo’ and ‘fortythree’, the state of Hesse is well equipped and continues to strengthen the AI ecosystem in Hesse,” said Science Minister Timon Gremmels.
Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus emphasizes the importance of AI computing infrastructure for both research and application: “It is important to me that not only scientists but also start-ups and SMEs can benefit from these excellent opportunities, for example as part of our AI Innovation Lab, which gives companies and science access to the computing cluster. I am therefore delighted that ‘AI made in Hessen’ and the Hessian AI ecosystem will be further strengthened with the ‘fortythree’ supercomputer.”
Economics Minister Kaweh Mansoori emphasized the potential of this cutting-edge technology for the further development of artificial intelligence: “We are delighted that the successful ‘fortytwo’ model is now being extended by ‘fortythree’. The supercomputer is not only a technical masterpiece, but also a symbol of Hessen’s commitment to advancing sustainable technologies and innovation worldwide. This will enable us to expand the locational advantages of our federal state in a targeted manner and further strengthen cooperation between research institutions and companies.”
New standards in sustainability for the development of intelligent systems
An outstanding feature of the new supercomputer is its exceptionally low energy consumption thanks to the use of direct water cooling, which, in combination with the use of a very efficient data center – the Green IT Cube of the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung – makes hessian.AI a leader in sustainable AI-HPC infrastructure. This is underlined by fortythree’s 42nd place in the Green500, the list of the world’s most energy-efficient computers.
“With our advanced cooling systems, we are setting new standards in sustainability and showing that technological advances and responsible use of our resources can go hand in hand,” emphasizes Prof. Mira Mezini, Co-Speaker of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence.
Hesse as a location for research and innovation
Co-speaker of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, Prof. Kristian Kersting, underlines the importance of the placement as an answer to the big questions of our time:
“With the enormous computing power of ‘fortythree’, we are moving decisively closer to the development of intelligent systems that are capable of mastering the greatest challenges of our time. Innovative AI models play a key role in answering complex questions in areas such as climate research, renewable energies and resource management.”
The supercomputer will play a central role in the development of advanced AI and machine learning algorithms and big data analysis and will be used in a variety of research projects ranging from medical research to energy optimization. In addition, other AI start-up projects and start-ups coordinated and supported by AI Startup Rising, project partners from industry and the EDITH project as well as Hessian SMEs and developers use the computing power offered and the associated services.
Precise processing of large amounts of data for AI start-ups and industry partners
Numerous successful models from the hessian.AI ecosystem are already running on ‘fortytwo’, which went into operation in 2023: among others, the cluster is used by startups such as CHAMELAION, which develops AI-based video translation software. The focus here is on separating audio sources and optimizing lip-synchronization in order to improve the quality and efficiency of international video translations. With its powerful graphics cards and specialized tools, ‘fortytwo’ enables fast and precise processing of large amounts of data – ideal for applications that analyze and use complex media or medical data.
The medtech start-up Unvail is also using the cluster to train AI models for more precise prostate cancer diagnosis in radiology.
The newly commissioned supercomputer is intended to expand the existing offering and is a necessary next step in the further development and strengthening of Hesse as an AI location in order to meet the increasing demand for computing capacity and associated services.
AI made in Germany
The hessian.AI AI Service Center (AISC), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is a central building block for the further development of the AI Innovation Lab, funded by HMD, and the AI Lab, funded by the HMWK, and serves to strengthen the German and European AI ecosystem.
With its location in Darmstadt and access to the hessian.AI ecosystem, the service center makes an important contribution to technological sovereignty.This is achieved through the expansion of its AI computing infrastructure, application-oriented research as part of the 3rd Wave of AI and the provision of services and further training.
Particularly pleasing is the inclusion in the TOP500 list of the most powerful supercomputers, combined with successfully developed AI models. This makes it possible to transform cutting-edge technologies into marketable products and make AI systems safe, robust and accessible to a broader user base. Through significant investments in AI compute infrastructures and low-threshold offerings, the AI service centers promote knowledge transfer, strengthen Germany’s position in technological development and establish AI Made in Germany as a brand with international appeal.
This success is part of an extensive funding initiative supported by three Hessian ministries and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project is a central component in the development of hessian.AI, the AI Innovation Lab (HMD) and the AI Service Centers (BMBF). The aim of this initiative is to promote excellent cutting-edge research in the field of AI and to make computing power widely accessible to users, which includes significant investments in AI compute infrastructures and services based on them.
About hessian.AI – Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence
hessian.AI, the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, conducts excellent cutting-edge AI research, provides high-performance AI computing infrastructures and associated services and promotes start-ups and innovation with programs such as AI Startup Rising.
Through the targeted transfer of knowledge and technologies, support for the KI macht Schule initiative and European projects such as EDITH, hessian.AI strengthens the AI ecosystem in Hesse, Germany and Europe.
hessian.AI makes an important contribution to digital sovereignty and responsible AI development that advances the economy, society and science in equal measure.
About Top500.org
Since its first publication in 1993, the TOP500 list has provided a detailed picture of the world’s most advanced supercomputers. This prestigious list compiles the 500 most powerful computer systems currently in operation every six months. It serves as an authoritative indicator of technological advances and trends in high-performance computing technology. The ranking of the systems is based on their performance, measured by the best result achieved in the Linpack benchmark – a standard test for evaluating computing power.
