As the global landscape of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enters a transformative era, Europe is making a groundbreaking leap forward.
According to Hyperion Research‘s November 2024 HPC and AI Market Update, the combined market is projected to soar to $51.9 billion by 2024, with $25.4 billion coming from on-premises servers and $8.7 billion from HPC and AI workloads.
This remarkable growth highlights the role of companies like ParTec AG, a trailblazer in modular supercomputing and quantum computing integration. Their innovative solutions address the surging demand for advanced computational power, positioning them as key contributors to Europe’s technological ascent.
At the forefront of this movement is JUPITER, Europe’s first Exascale supercomputer.
JUPITER, short for “Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research,” will be the most powerful supercomputer in Europe. With the ability to perform over one quintillion calculations per second, its computational power equals that of one million modern smartphones combined. This unprecedented capability opens doors for groundbreaking research across various domains, from climate science to medical simulations.
The JUPITER Exascale Development Instrument (JEDI), the initial module of Europe’s pioneering exascale supercomputer, has achieved the top position on the Green500 list, which ranks the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputers. Installed in April 2024 by the German–French consortium of ParTec and Eviden.This remarkable accomplishment underscores ParTec’s pivotal role in advancing energy-efficient high-performance computing solutions. The German company specializing in modular supercomputing and quantum computing integration, ParTec contributes its ParaStation Modulo software suite to enable seamless integration of diverse computing resources.
JUPITER’s advanced capabilities are tailored to meet the most demanding challenges in AI and HPC. It will facilitate the training of massive neural networks, simulate complex material properties, create digital twins of human organs for medical research, validate emerging quantum computing technologies, and provide highly detailed climate modeling.
Beyond technical achievements, JUPITER represents a strategic step toward enhancing Europe’s digital sovereignty.
The European Union (EU) is actively pursuing digital sovereignty to ensure that critical research and innovation remain under its control. This strategic initiative focuses on enhancing Europe’s autonomy in the digital realm, particularly concerning data, technology, and infrastructure. The European Commission emphasizes the necessity for Europe to “strengthen its digital sovereignty and set standards, rather than following those of others.”
By doing so, the EU aims to safeguard its technological advancements and maintain control over essential digital assets, thereby securing its position in the global digital economy.
In the realm of High-Performance Computing (HPC), modularity has emerged as a cornerstone for building highly efficient systems tailored to the diverse computational and data-processing demands of contemporary applications and workflows.
By adopting the modular architecture patented by ParTec AG, HPC systems can dynamically adapt to the unique requirements of various workloads, ensuring that computational resources are used effectively and enhancing overall system performance. This flexibility is crucial in addressing the evolving needs of modern HPC applications and maximizing the value of computational investments.
With a substantial budget—often reaching hundreds of millions of euros—projects like those led by ParTec, including the modular supercomputing initiative Deep Projects, symbolize Europe’s commitment to high-tech excellence. Co-funded by the European Union and member states, these projects are more than technological achievements; they are vital investments in Europe’s competitive future.
These supercomputing initiatives represent Europe’s ambition to lead in the digital age. By addressing critical scientific, environmental, and medical challenges, they drive innovation across sectors and elevate Europe’s competitive standing on the global stage. However, maintaining and expanding Europe’s leadership in HPC and AI requires sustained commitment. Companies like those behind JUPITER are not just advancing science; they are building the infrastructure that will define Europe’s global competitiveness in the coming decades.
Investing in organizations that drive innovation, is investing in Europe’s future as a technological powerhouse. By supporting these pioneers like ParTec, investors can help secure Europe’s position at the forefront of global knowledge, ensuring its industries, researchers, and citizens benefit from the digital and computational advancements that will shape the world.
The exascale era is upon us, and Europe has the talent, vision, and ambition to lead—but it needs the resources to do so. It’s time for European investors to recognize the transformative potential of this field and fund the development of technologies that will keep Europe competitive, innovative, and sovereign in the global arena. The future of Europe’s technological and scientific status depends on it.
The development of JUPITER is a collaborative effort involving leading technology partners. These partnerships exemplify the synergy required to bring such a transformative project to life.
Eviden, part of the Atos Group, provides the BullSequana XH3000 hardware, forming the technological backbone of the system.
Forschungszentrum Jülich, home to the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, will host and operate JUPITER, ensuring its seamless deployment and operation.
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is a legal and funding entity created in 2018 to enable the European Union and EuroHPC JU participating countries to coordinate their efforts and pool their resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.
In order to equip Europe with a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured nine supercomputers, located across Europe. No matter where in Europe they are located, European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from these EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.
Recently reviewed by means of Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1732, the EuroHPC JU received a new mandate to develop and operate AI factories. These comprehensive open AI ecosystems centered around EuroHPC supercomputing facilities will support the growth of a highly competitive and innovative AI ecosystem in Europe.
JUPITER is funded half by the European supercomputing initiative EuroHPC JU and a quarter each by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW NRW) via the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS).
Stay tuned for more updates as ParTec continues to lead the charge in HPC, AI and Quantum Computing.
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