The University of Bristol has officially launched what it boasts as the UK’s most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer, Isambard-AI. This £225 million facility, a collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Nvidia, is capable of processing data at a speed that would take the entire global population 80 years to achieve in just one second.
The cutting-edge computer promises unprecedented processing speeds and capacity for the UK, offering researchers and industry the ability to unlock AI’s vast potential in areas such as robotics, big data analysis, climate research, and drug discovery.
Isambard-AI is built and operated by the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) and is housed at NCC on the Bristol and Bath Science Park. Alongside the Dawn supercomputer at the University of Cambridge, Isambard-AI will boost the UK’s compute capacity to 23 AI ExaFLOPs. An ExaFLOP represents one quintillion, or 1018, floating-point operations per second. The University of Bristol highlights that this combined capacity is equivalent to every person in the UK spending 85,000 years doing what the full UK Government’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) will accomplish in one second.
The university proudly states that Isambard-AI is the sixth fastest supercomputer in Europe and holds the title of the fourth greenest globally, according to the Green500 list. Its energy efficiency is a key design principle. The facility exclusively uses zero-carbon electricity and is built within a low-carbon, modular data centre, installed by Oakland Construction, which has resulted in an estimated 72 per cent reduction in carbon emissions compared to traditional construction methods. Furthermore, it incorporates HPE’s 100 per cent fan-less, direct liquid cooling technology, leading to up to a 90 per cent reduction in cooling power consumption. There’s also potential to recycle the waste heat for nearby homes and businesses.
Named in honour of the renowned engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the supercomputer was constructed in partnership with HPE, utilising next-generation HPE Cray EX supercomputing optimised for AI workloads, featuring 5,400 Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips.
The launch was overseen by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, marking Isambard-AI as a crucial component of the UK Government’s AIRR. This initiative aims to significantly enhance the country’s capabilities in developing responsible and cutting-edge AI.
The University of Bristol has already received over 80 applications from researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) eager to utilise Isambard-AI, with demand expected to rise.
Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, expressed her excitement, stating: “We have a long history of AI research, innovation and education and now we are home to the UK’s most powerful AI supercomputer. Due to its impressive power, working at speeds 100,000 times faster than an average laptop, we will soon see Isambard AI deliver transformational research and breakthroughs that will ultimately improve people’s lives.”
Image source: University of Bristol
