SINGAPORE, June 8 — Singapore has launched its newest national research supercomputer named Aspire 2B to significantly boost artificial intelligence (AI), climate research, and quantum computing capabilities.
Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said Aspire 2B allows AI and machine learning models, previously too large, to be trained in Singapore to meet the republic’s specific needs.
“Simulations that ran as approximations can now run at resolution.
“Workloads that had to be sent overseas, can now use our national research infrastructure,” she said during the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore launching event on Monday.
Designed as a heterogeneous system that combines advanced central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) capabilities on a single platform, Aspire 2B supports large-scale workloads spanning simulation, data analytics, and AI.
It will have more than 1,500 Nvidia H200 GPUs that can deliver 115 petaFLOPS of compute performance, or equivalent to more than 100 quadrillion calculations per second.
According to Teo, the new supercomputer also allows researchers to develop advanced climate modelling approaches that combine AI and physics-based simulations, for higher resolution forecasting and sharper and more granular climate insights.
This can help the republic anticipate intense rainfall and rising seas earlier, and plan urban development and coastal defences around them, she added. — Bernama