Taiwan’s first next-generation supercomputer for artificial intelligence (AI), which would be equipped with Nvidia’s H100 graphics processing units (GPU), is scheduled to begin working with a capacity of 16 petaFLOPS in May. The government is planning to gradually expand the computing power to 200 petaFLOPS to facilitate the development of applications for generative AI and artificial general intelligence, also known as strong AI.
One petaFLOP is equivalent to 1 quadrillion calculations per second.
The National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) is tasked with building supercomputers to be used by researchers of physics, chemistry, mathematics, atmospheric science, engineering, life science and AI.
Photo courtesy of the National Center for High-Performance Computing
Researchers, the government and academic institutions can apply to access those computers.
The center’s supercomputer for AI, Taiwania 2 (台灣杉二號), has a computing power of nine petaFLOPS, which is capable of processing massive datasets, deep learning and AI computing. It was built in 2018 using Nvidia’s VI00 GPU.
With the rapid development of AI, the center wanted to build a next-generation AI supercomputer with more advanced GPUs to succeed Taiwania 2. The new supercomputer, which uses Nvidia’s H100 GPU as its main framework, is to be available for use in May and would have a computing power of 16 petaFLOPS, the NCHC’s plan showed.
It also plans to increase the computing power of the new supercomputer to 100 petaFLOPS, or even 200 petaFLOPS. The scale would be determined by the funding allocated to the project.
The center has yet to decide on the name for the new supercomputer.
Council officials said that the new supercomputer would facilitate the development of generative AI and strong AI, and could be integrated into a one-stop AI cloud service platform when a traditional Chinese version of Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine is added.
Generative AI uses generative models to produce text, images, videos or other forms of data, while strong AI refers to machines that have intelligence and capabilities comparable to human cognition. The latter possesses the ability to learn, reason and adapt to unfamiliar environments.
The platform would provide computing power and a large language model base, which would help reduce the amount industry operators spend on developing a large language model base, they said.
It would also allow industry operators of various disciplines to create customized knowledge bases and other applications using their own datasets, they added.
The NCHC also uses the Taiwan 3 and the Forerunner 1 for high-performance computing, which were built using central processing units.
It plans to upgrade the computing power and energy use efficiency of supercomputers through the Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program and Southern Silicon Valley project, with the goal of reaching 480 petaFLOPS in the government sector by 2029.
In the same year, the nation’s accumulative computing power would top 1.2 exaFLOPS when efforts from the private sector are included.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS