Japan Enhances AI Sovereignty With Advanced ABCI 3.0 Supercomputer

11/07/2024

Enhancing Japan's AI sovereignty and strengthening its research and development capabilities, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) will integrate thousands of NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs into its AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure 3.0 supercomputer (ABCI 3.0). The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Cray XD system will feature NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking for superior performance and scalability.

ABCI 3.0 is the latest iteration of Japan's large-scale Open AI Computing Infrastructure designed to advance AI R&D. This collaboration underlines Japan's commitment to advancing its AI capabilities and fortifying its technological independence.

In August 2018, we launched ABCI, the world's first large-scale open AI computing infrastructure, said AIST Executive Officer Yoshio Tanaka. Building on our experience over the past several years managing ABCI, we're now upgrading to ABCI 3.0. In collaboration with NVIDIA and HPE we aim to develop ABCI 3.0 into a computing infrastructure that will advance further research and development capabilities for generative AI in Japan.

As generative AI prepares to catalyze global change, it's crucial to rapidly cultivate research and development capabilities within Japan, said AIST Solutions Co. Producer and Head of ABCI Operations Hirotaka Ogawa. I'm confident that this major upgrade of ABCI in our collaboration with NVIDIA and HPE will enhance ABCI's leadership in domestic industry and academia, propelling Japan towards global competitiveness in AI development and serving as the bedrock for future innovation.

The ABCI 3.0 supercomputer will be housed in Kashiwa at a facility run by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Credit: Courtesy of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. ABCI 3.0: A New Era for Japanese AI Research and Development ABCI 3.0 is constructed and operated by AIST, its business subsidiary, AIST Solutions, and its system integrator, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

The ABCI 3.0 project follows support from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, known as METI, for strengthening its computing resources through the Economic Security Fund and is part of a broader $1 billion initiative by METI that includes both ABCI efforts and investments in cloud AI computing.

NVIDIA is closely collaborating with METI on research and education following a visit last year by company founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, who met with political and business leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, to discuss the future of AI.

NVIDIA's Commitment to Japan's Future Huang pledged to collaborate on research, particularly in generative AI, robotics and quantum computing, to invest in AI startups and provide product support, training and education on AI.

During his visit, Huang emphasized that AI factories - next-generation data centers designed to handle the most computationally intensive AI tasks - are crucial for turning vast amounts of data into intelligence.

The AI factory will become the bedrock of modern economies across the world, Huang said during a meeting with the Japanese press in December.

With its ultra-high-density data center and energy-efficient design, ABCI provides a robust infrastructure for developing AI and big data applications.

The system is expected to come online by the end of this year and offer state-of-the-art AI research and development resources. It will be housed in Kashiwa, near Tokyo.

Unmatched Computing Performance and Efficiency The facility will offer:

6 AI exaflops of computing capacity, a measure of AI-specific performance without sparsity

410 double-precision petaflops, a measure of general computing capacity

Each node is connected via the Quantum-2 InfiniBand platform at 200GB/s of bisectional bandwidth.

NVIDIA technology forms the backbone of this initiative, with hundreds of nodes each equipped with 8 NVLlink-connected H200 GPUs providing unprecedented computational performance and efficiency.

NVIDIA H200 is the first GPU to offer over 140 gigabytes (GB) of HBM3e memory at 4.8 terabytes per second (TB/s). The H200's larger and faster memory accelerates generative AI and LLMs, while advancing scientific computing for HPC workloads with better energy efficiency and lower total cost of ownership.

NVIDIA H200 GPUs are 15X more energy-efficient than ABCI's previous-generation architecture for AI workloads such as LLM token generation.

The integration of advanced NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand with In-Network computing - where networking devices perform computations on data, offloading the work from the CPU - ensures efficient, high-speed, low-latency communication, crucial for handling intensive AI workloads and vast datasets.

ABCI boasts world-class computing and data processing power, serving as a platform to accelerate joint AI R&D with industries, academia and governments.

METI's substantial investment is a testament to Japan's strategic vision to enhance AI development capabilities and accelerate the use of generative AI.

By subsidizing AI supercomputer development, Japan aims to reduce the time and costs of developing next-generation AI technologies, positioning itself as a leader in the global AI landscape.

LINK:	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/abci-aist/...
	See more stories from nvidia

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026