Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

An Engineer Recalls How AI Broke the Exascale Barrier

19/10/2021

Thorsten Kurth still remembers the night he discovered his team broke the exascale barrier.

On the couch at home at 9 p.m., he was pouring over the latest results from one of the first big jobs run on Summit, then the world's top supercomputer, based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The 12-person team had spent nights and weekends seeking a way that AI could track hundreds of hurricanes and atmospheric rivers buried in terabytes of historical climate data.

Only a few weeks earlier, their software failed to run on more than 64 of the system's nodes.

But this time - just two days before a paper on the work was due - it exercised 4,560 of Summit's 4,608 nodes to deliver the results. In the process, it achieved 1.13 exaflops of mixed-precision AI performance.

That was a good feeling, a lot of hard work paid off, recalled Kurth of the work he led while at Lawrence Berkeley Lab in 2018.

Entering the Exascale Era Today, we celebrate the work of everyone who's cracked a quintillion operations per second.

That's a billion billion or 10 to the 18th power. That's why we mark Exascale Day on Oct. 18.

About the same time Kurth's team was completing its work, researchers at Oak Ridge also entered the exascale era, hitting 1.8, then 2.36 exaflops on Summit, analyzing genomics to better understand the nature of opioid addiction.

COVID-19 Ignites Exascale Work Since then, many others have pushed the limits of science with GPUs.

In March 2020, the Folding@home project put out a call for donations of free cycles on home computers to run research examining the COVID-19 virus.

Ten days later their virtual, distributed system surpassed 1.5 exaflops, creating a crowd-sourced exascale supercomputer fueled in part by more than 356,000 NVIDIA GPUs.

AI Supercomputing Goes Global Today, academic and commercial labs worldwide are deploying a new generation of accelerated supercomputers capable of exascale-class AI.

The latest is Polaris, a system Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is building at Argonne National Lab capable of up to 1.4 AI exaflops. Researchers will use it to advance cancer treatments, explore clean energy and push the limits of physics, work that will be accelerated by 2,240 NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs.

Another powerful system stands on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Perlmutter uses 6,159 A100 GPUs to deliver nearly 4 exaflops of AI performance for more than 7,000 researchers working on projects that include drawing the largest 3D map of the visible universe to date.

Polaris and Perlmutter also use NVIDIA's software tools to help researchers prototype exascale applications.

Europe Erects Exascale AI Infrastructure Atos will build an even larger AI supercomputer for Italy's CINECA research center. Leonardo will pack 14,000 A100 GPUs on an NVIDIA Quantum 200Gb/s InfiniBand network to hit up to 10 exaflops of AI performance.

It's one of eight systems in a regional network that backers call an engine to power Europe's data economy.

One of Europe's largest AI-capable supercomputers is slated to come online in Switzerland in 2023. Alps will be built by HPE at the Swiss National Computing Center using NVIDIA GPUs and Grace, our first data center CPU. It's expected to scale to heights up to 20 AI exaflops.

An Industrial HPC Revolution Begins The move to high-performance AI extends beyond academic labs.

Advances in deep learning combined with the simulation technology of accelerated computing has put us at the beginnings of an industrial HPC revolution, said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang in a keynote earlier this year.

Selene uses a modular architecture based on the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD NVIDIA was an early player in this trend.

In the first days of the pandemic, we commissioned Selene, currently ranked as the world's fastest industrial supercomputer. It helps train autonomous vehicles, refine conversational AI techniques and more.

In June, Tesla Inc. unveiled its own industrial HPC system to train deep neural networks for its electric cars. It packs 5,760 NVIDIA GPUs to deliver up to 1.8 exaflops.

Beyond the Numbers Three years after winning a Gordon Bell award for breaking the exascale barrier, Kurth, now a senior software engineer at NVIDIA, sees the real fruit of his team's labors.

Improved versions of the AI model they pioneered are now available online for any climate scientist to use. They handle in an hour what used to take weeks. Governments can use them to plan budgets for disaster response.

In the end, Exascale Day is all about the people, because to succeed at this level, you need an excellent team with specialists who understand every aspect of what you are trying to do, Kurth said.
LINK: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/10/18/exascale-day-ai/...
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 ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

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

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

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 ...

29/04/2026

Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...

29/04/2026

How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...

29/04/2026

Save the Date: SVG Venues & Teams Summit Travels South to Miamis Kaseya Center on Aug. 12

Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...

29/04/2026

The Cast and Crew of Conbody VS Everybody Have Each Other's Backs for Life

(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Veronika Lee Cla...

29/04/2026

Free Tilt EQ plug-in from Techivation

Combines EQ and harmonic distortion Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...

29/04/2026

Expressive E launch the Osmose CE

Two new MPE controllers announced Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...

29/04/2026

iZotope RX 12 is here

New modules & enhanced machine-learning The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...

29/04/2026

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award 29 April, 2026 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...

29/04/2026

YEP Spotlight: Julissa Padilla

Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Promotes Brian Grahn, Ben Turnwell to Expanded Roles

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

The CW Unveils Major Streaming Deals with ESPN and Roku

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Announces New Roles for Brian Grahn and Ben Tur...

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...

29/04/2026

Reduce Workflow Complexity with nxtedition at MPTS 2026

nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...

29/04/2026

Telxius taps Synamedia to unlock seamless global multi-CD...

Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...

29/04/2026

freispace and Projective Announce Joint Showcase of Integ...

freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...

29/04/2026

DHD Celebrates 30th Anniversary at 2026 NAB Show

DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...

29/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...

29/04/2026

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...

29/04/2026

Paramount Will be 49.5% Foreign Owned After WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

NAB Show 2026: AI, Vertical and BPS Dominate Broadcasters' Discussions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

IAB Tech Lab Announces New OpenRTB Attributes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukraine over 2023-2027 Ahead of Schedule

29 Apr 2026 VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukr...

29/04/2026

U challenges stars and their dogs to compete for Wagging Rights

Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U London, 29th April 2026: F...

29/04/2026

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentary series from BAFTA-winning Mindhouse, coming this summer

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...

29/04/2026

Sky announces upcoming documentary series The Lie That Exposed The Truth

Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026 Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...

29/04/2026

Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exclusive summer escape The Five Star Weekend, coming to screens this July

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...

29/04/2026

'SUPERNOVA: GENESIS' Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Million Viewers on Netflix

Back to All News SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...

29/04/2026

dB Sponsors College Sustainability Week

Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...

29/04/2026

Listen to the birds sing! Experience mother nature in a seven-hour radio marathon

The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...

29/04/2026

April 28, 2026

Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry. April 28, 2026 LA JOLLA, CA S...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

28/04/2026

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...