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.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS