Meta Unveils AI Supercomputer "The Fastest Supercomputer in the World"

[Image source= Meta homepage]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Meta, the parent company of Facebook, disclosed the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer through a blog post on the 24th (local time), according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the same day.

Meta introduced that its AI and infrastructure teams have led the development of the AI supercomputer over the past two years, naming the supercomputer the ‘AI Research SuperCluster.’ It added that hundreds of people, including personnel from partner companies such as NVIDIA, Penguin Computing, and Pure Storage, participated in the SuperCluster development project.

Currently, the SuperCluster is equipped with 6,080 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs). According to Meta’s explanation, it is the fifth fastest supercomputer in the world at present. Meta stated that by this summer, the number of GPUs adopted in the SuperCluster will increase to 16,000, and at that time, the SuperCluster will become the fastest supercomputer in the world.

Meta revealed that the research team is currently training natural language processing, computer vision, and other AI models on the SuperCluster. It also explained that ultimately, the SuperCluster will play a role in building AI models capable of processing hundreds of languages and simultaneously analyzing text, images, and videos. Furthermore, it stated that AI models developed through the SuperCluster will help enrich experiences possible in the metaverse world.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), emphasized in a statement sent to WSJ, "The experiences we are building in the metaverse require tremendous computational power," adding, "The SuperCluster will help operate new AI models that can learn trillions of examples and understand hundreds of languages."

Meta also stated that the SuperCluster will assist in developing augmented reality (AR) tools and distinguishing harmful content. However, it did not disclose where the SuperCluster will be installed or its cost.