Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI).
The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said.
That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips.
Photo: Bloomberg
A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said.
The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a favorable spot in line for the AI chips.
Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son has said he is preparing to “swing for the fences” in AI bets.
The company on Tuesday reported a return to profitability on rising tech valuations.
Son joined Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on stage in Tokyo during Nvidia’s AI Summit yesterday.
When reminded of Softbank Group’s prior Nvidia stake — which would be worth about US$178 billion today — Son cringed and laughed, then wrapped Huang in a bear hug.
Nvidia has been crisscrossing the globe to host such events, promoting what it calls the new industrial revolution. Events in India and now Japan are aimed at broadening the deployment of AI systems to nation-based efforts and lessening Nvidia’s reliance on a few large US customers.
In addition to the new computer and the plan for a second, Softbank Group’s telecom unit would also use Nvidia gear to provide AI services over cellular networks. Traditional hardware, based on custom chips that are designed to maximize mobile data traffic, is not optimal for new AI services.
“What will result is an AI grid that runs across Japan,” Huang said, adding that this would change the communications network into an AI network.
New AI radio access networks, would be better-suited to remote robotics, autonomous vehicle support and powering other services, Huang said.
They would also require less electricity, he added.
The telecom unit would begin testing the network with partners Fujitsu Ltd and International Business Machines Corp’s Red Hat Inc.
“We are going to buy a lot of your chip,” Son told Huang.
Japan is on the cusp of change, said Son, who has often criticized both the country’s government and companies for their slowness in adopting new technologies.
This time, the Japanese government is not getting in the way of a buildout in AI and robotics, he said.
The Japanese government has allocated ￥4 trillion (US$26 billion) to bolster its domestic chip production capacity. That includes a moonshot project behind Rapidus Corp to build a state-of-the-art foundry from scratch to challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), which manufactures Nvidia chips. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has also pledged more than US$65 billion of fresh support for the nation’s semiconductor and AI sectors.
“But they should encourage more,” Son told Huang. “As you say, this is the reset, this is the catch-up moment for this revolution. We can’t miss this time.”
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