World’s largest and most powerful computer chip to be deployed at Bavaria’s Leibniz Supercomputing Centre

A first for Europe and Bavaria to ramp up AI research

LRZ is set to become the first scientific computing centre in Europe to benefit from the unparalleled performance of a pioneering new superchip — the second-generation Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE-2) processor. Boasting 850,000 AI cores, a high fabric bandwidth of 220Pb/s and 2.6 trillion transistors, the outsized, gold-coloured superchip delivers 1,000 times more capacity than current leading GPU chips.

For the research community in Bavaria, this means access to the most powerful AI chip on Earth with the largest data processing capacity ever. AI methods and machine learning need a lot of computing power. LRZ's superchip is the biggest in the world to date and will break new ground for Bavaria's cutting-edge research. Long-term, this will reinforce Bavaria as an AI hub.

Acquisition of the superchip and its associated AI system are financed by funds from the Hightech Agenda, the Bavarian State Government’s multi-billion-euro super technology and AI fund.

LRZ: a trailblazing international computing centre located in Bavaria

Home to the SuperMUC-NG, the eighth most powerful supercomputer in the world, LRZ distinguishes itself as one of the leading global supercomputing facilities. Located just outside Munich, the centre focuses on emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and quantum computing in the field of future computing. As an institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, LRZ and has acted as a proficient IT service provider for Munich's universities and Bavarian colleges as well as a cooperation partner of scientific institutions in Germany and Europe for sixty years.

The jewel of an advanced new AI system

The WSE-2 superchip is the centrepiece of LRZ’s brand-new high-performance AI system. It will allow LRZ to greatly expand its computing infrastructure, process big data and speed up research.

“Currently, we observe that AI computing demand is doubling every three to four months with our users,” said Prof. Dr. Dieter Kranzlmüller, Director of LRZ. “The superchip promises significantly more efficiency in data processing and thus faster breakthrough of scientific findings.”

The superchip will facilitate research in areas such as natural language processing, diagnostic image analysis and computational fluid dynamics in aerospace technology.

If you want to know more about the LRZ and how supercomputing is accelerating cross-industry innovation in Bavaria, watch our Zoom Interview with Laura Schulz, LRZ’s Head of Strategic Development and Partnerships.