500,000 chips, nuclear energy to power one of world’s largest AI supercomputer
Fluidstack CEO says that in the coming decade,
France will no longer export electricity – it will export intelligence.
United Kingdom-based Fluidstack has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of France to build an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer.
The company announced it at the ongoing AI Action Summit in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron was present at the summit. It is a $10.3 billion (€10 billion) project, as per Macron’s announcement.
The agreement was signed by the French Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Eric Lombard, the French Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Feracci, and Fluidstack Co-founder and President, César Maklary.
Fluidstack says that the AI supercomputer will make use of France’s abundant, carbon-free, and predominantly nuclear energy to provide up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of dedicated AI compute power.
Scalability, nuclear energy use, and other features of the new project
The company’s press release states that it plans to scale beyond 1 GW of dedicated AI compute by 2028. One of the other unique features of the AI supercomputer will be that it will be exclusively powered by decarbonized energy, with waste heat recovery for sustainability.
The phase one of the facility will ultimately host close to 500,000 next-generation AI chips.
It will use low-carbon energy supplied by the French national company RTE, through rapid grid connection. It will use the nuclear energy which the country produces for powering the AI supercomputer.
The company says that the AI supercomputer is being custom-built to train advanced AI models, to enhance France’s capability.
Maklary further stated that the partnership will allow them to,
Develop the infrastructure needed to support the next wave of AI innovations.
Partnering with the French government and global industry leaders, we are creating the most advanced computing capabilities in the world—right here in France.
“France’s commitment to digital and energy sovereignty makes it the ideal location for such an ambitious project, and I very am proud to be playing a key part in this initiative,”
In another post on LinkedIn, Maklary said that in the coming decade,
France will no longer export electricity – it will export intelligence.
Fluidstack to build 1GW AI supercomputer in France
The AI cloud platform company, which was founded in 2017 in Oxford University, says that the project will reinforce France’s leadership in AI infrastructure, energy security, and digital sovereignty.
A press release by the company states that the supercomputer will be designed for scalable expansion beyond 1 GW by 2028. It will offer unparalleled compute capacity for next-generation AI models, Fluidstack says.
Macron said,
France is the leading European country in artificial intelligence. Since 2017, we have trained our talents, developed our research, and strengthened our key players in healthcare, space, defense, and large language models,
He added,
We have a role to play because our nuclear energy is controllable, safe, stable, and decarbonized—ideal for expanding our AI computing capabilities.
“This €10 billion agreement with Fluidstack embodies my ambition. We must not slow down because the world is accelerating and the battle for innovation is happening now,”
The project will also lead to the creation of many jobs in AI infrastructure, AI research, and high-performance computing, the company’s press release says.
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500,000 chips, nuclear energy to power one of world’s largest AI supercomputer, source
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