A new era of European high-performance computing has begun with the inauguration of the supercomputer ‘Jupiter’. Officially launched on 5 September at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany, this system is a monumental achievement, representing a €500m joint investment by the European Union and the German government through the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC).
Jupiter’s primary claim to fame is that it is the first computer system in Europe to cross the exascale computing threshold. This means it is capable of performing more than one quintillion operations per second. To put its immense power into a relatable context, its aggregated computing capability is equivalent to that of one million modern smartphones working in unison.
Architectural Powerhouse and European Collaboration
The technological backbone of Jupiter is a testament to international and European collaboration. It is powered by Nvidia’s cutting-edge Grace Hopper platform, with significant contributions from industry partners Eviden, Atos, and ParTec.
Notably, the system incorporates the first prototypes of processors developed within the EU under the European Processor Initiative, marking a significant step towards technological sovereignty. This blend of high-powered, energy-efficient components makes Jupiter not only incredibly powerful but also a pioneer in sustainable computing.
A Model of Energy Efficiency
In an industry often criticized for its energy consumption, Jupiter sets a new global standard for sustainability. The entire system runs on renewable energy, aligning with Europe's green goals. It features state-of-the-art cooling technologies and systems designed to reuse energy, earning it the title of the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputer model.
Unleashing Potential Across Science and Industry
Jupiter’s capabilities are set to accelerate breakthroughs across a vast spectrum of fields. It will be available to the European scientific community, industries, and public administrations to run hundreds of complex applications.
Climate Science and Weather Forecasting
Researchers will leverage Jupiter to run weather models at an unprecedented kilometre-scale resolution. This will enable vastly more precise forecasts of extreme weather events, providing crucial data for climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Advancing AI and Research
The supercomputer will be instrumental in training large language models and other complex AI systems. Crucially, it will be accessible to start-ups across Europe, providing them with the computing muscle needed to train and deploy generative AI models that would otherwise be out of reach.
Beyond AI, Jupiter will drive innovation in material science, bioengineering, and quantum research, allowing for the simulation of phenomena that were previously impossible to model in detail.
Jupiter's Place in Europe's Digital Ecosystem
Jupiter is not an isolated project; it is a central pillar in Europe's wider digital and AI strategy. It joins a powerful network of existing EuroHPC supercomputers, including MareNostrum in Spain, Leonardo in Italy, and Lumi in Finland. Together, they form a distributed network conducting billions of calculations per second.
This initiative is part of a broader push to develop AI gigafactories across the continent. EuroHPC has already selected 13 proposals for these factories in countries like Germany, Spain, Poland, and France. These facilities are designed to provide the massive computing power essential for start-ups, industry, and researchers to develop and compete in the global AI landscape.
A Historic Milestone for European Innovation
The launch of Jupiter has been hailed as a historic moment for European technology and sovereignty. EU Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen stated that just as the planet Jupiter has a gravitational pull that shapes our solar system, the Jupiter supercomputer will pull Europe’s research community, start-ups, industry, and talent together. It is expected to attract investment, stimulate groundbreaking breakthroughs, and propel Europe forward as a global leader in scientific computing.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the system's unique fusion of high-performance computing and AI into a single architecture, calling it a platform for next-generation scientific computing that will accelerate discoveries across every domain, from designing new materials to building digital twins of complex systems.
The activation of Jupiter marks a significant leap in Europe's computational capabilities, providing an indispensable tool for tackling the world's most complex challenges and securing a competitive edge in the global race for technological innovation.
