(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group will be Nvidia’s first customer to build a supercomputer based on Nvidia’s new Blackwell design. This is a move to meet rising demand in countries that want to catch up with artificial intelligence.
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SoftBank’s communications division plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support a wide range of regional services, the companies announced Wednesday. The computer will be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines a computer processor with a so-called AI accelerator chip. A follow-up effort will feature a more advanced version of Grace Blackwell.
Nvidia’s chips have become a valuable commodity for the world’s largest technology companies, which use the components to develop and run AI models. This process requires sending large amounts of data to the software, which accelerator chips are particularly good at handling.
The announcement signals that SoftBank has secured a favorable position in the Nvidia chip line. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced the new Blackwell lineup earlier this year, but production problems delayed the rollout. Huang says supplies will be plentiful once manufacturing ramps up, but customers are eager to get their hands on the first new chips.
Huang spoke at Nvidia’s AI Summit in Tokyo early Wednesday morning. The American company has traveled the world hosting such events and promoting what has been called the new industrial revolution. The events in India and now Japan are aimed at expanding the adoption of AI systems into nation-based efforts and reducing Nvidia’s dependence on a few large customers in the United States.
In addition to the new computer and plans for a second one, communications arm SoftBank Corp. also plans to use Nvidia equipment to provide AI services over mobile phone networks. Traditional hardware based on custom chips designed to maximize mobile data traffic is not ideal for new AI services.
This will “create an AI grid that spans all of Japan,” Huang said.
The new AI-RAN (AI Radio Access Network) will be better suited to power remote robotics, autonomous vehicle support and other services, he said. It also requires less electricity.
The telecommunications unit, which operates the country’s third-largest wireless carrier, will begin testing the network in collaboration with partners Fujitsu and International Business Machines Inc.’s Red Hat.
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