Bull selected to deliver LUMI-AI supercomputer, powering next-generation AI workloads and beyond

Image: LUMI-AI data center. Visualization NOAR – Nordic Architects.

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has signed a procurement contract with Bull to deliver LUMI-AI, a next-generation supercomputer to be located in CSC’s data center in Kajaani, Finland. The system is expected to deliver a tenfold increase in artificial intelligence (AI) capacity and nearly double the high-performance computing (HPC) capability of the current LUMI supercomputer. The total value of the LUMI-AI contract, including acquisition, delivery, installation, and maintenance, is EUR 387.8 million. LUMI-AI will strengthen Europe’s capabilities in AI, high-performance computing, data-driven research and innovation as well as competence development.

LUMI-AI will serve as the computing backbone of the LUMI AI Factory, supporting both industrial AI innovation and academic research. Designed for a wide range of workloads, the system will enable breakthroughs in AI training and inference, as well as large-scale scientific simulations.

The LUMI-AI supercomputer is owned by the EuroHPC JU and hosted by the LUMI AI Factory consortium, which includes six countries: Finland, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, and Poland. The system is scheduled for deployment in the second half of 2027 at CSC’s new data center in Renforsin Ranta business park in Kajaani, Finland.

The total value of the LUMI-AI contract, including acquisition, delivery, installation, and maintenance, is EUR 387.8 million. Funding is shared equally between EuroHPC JU and the LUMI AI Factory consortium.

– With LUMI-AI, EuroHPC JU has now signed its sixth AI Factory procurement contract for a next-generation AI-optimised supercomputer. Together, these systems will form a powerful European AI infrastructure ecosystem, enabling SMEs and startups to access world-class supercomputing resources, unlock the full potential of AI, and drive innovation, growth, and technological leadership across Europe, states Anders Jensen, EuroHPC JU Executive Director.

– The LUMI AI Factory consortium builds on the success of the LUMI supercomputer. I want to thank the EuroHPC JU and the consortium for the great collaboration: together we can build this world-class infrastructure for European researchers. LUMI-AI’s modern capabilities combined with the LUMI-IQ quantum computer will help European researchers and industry tackle unforeseen research and innovation challenges in key fields such as health, climate and disruptive technologies, says Kimmo Koski, Managing Director of CSC – IT Center for Science.

– LUMI-AI marks an important milestone not only for European AI, but also for Bull, building on our established track record in delivering AI Factories and exascale systems, and further reinforcing our European leadership in developing the most energy-efficient and complex AI infrastructures. Building on decades of leadership in supercomputing, designed and manufactured in Europe, we have evolved into a trusted partner for the large-scale AI infrastructures that will help shape Europe’s future AI Gigafactories. From AI platforms to sovereign computing infrastructures, our mission is more important than ever: to provide the technologies that enable innovation, competitiveness and scientific excellence, while strengthening Europe’s technological autonomy. With Bull’s patented water-cooling technologies and high-performance interconnect (BXI), this new project further confirms the strength of Bull’s technological leadership and latest innovations. We are proud to support EuroHPC JU and the LUMI AI Factory consortium in delivering a system that will serve researchers, industries and citizens across Europe, tells Emmanuel Le Roux, CEO of Bull.

Top-tier technology with environmental responsibility

The liquid-cooled supercomputer will be based on Bull’s latest BullSequana XH3500 architecture, specifically designed for advanced AI workloads. It will be built on next-generation AMD Instinct™ MI430X GPUs alongside state-of-the-art 6th Gen AMD EPYC™ 256-core processors, providing flexibility across diverse computing workloads.

– Europe’s next wave of AI innovation will depend on infrastructure that is open, efficient and trusted, said Thomas Zacharia, Senior Vice President, Global Public Sector and Strategic Partnerships at AMD.

– LUMI-AI marks an important next step in the AMD partnership with EuroHPC JU, the LUMI AI Factory consortium and Bull. Powered by AMD Instinct MI430X GPUs and 6th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs, it will strengthen Europe’s sovereign AI capacity, accelerate scientific discovery, and give researchers, startups and industry the scale and flexibility to shape Europe’s AI future, Zacharia continues.

The other technology partners are IBM, providing an ambitious storage solution based on their Storage Scale technology, as well as Nokia, providing data center networking expertise to build a network that complements the BXI interconnect by Bull.

New GPU architectures are significantly more performant in AI-driven tasks than before, which is reflected as a major leap in the system’s AI capabilities. Traditional computing performance, in contrast, describes how well a system handles highly precise floating-point calculations required in scientific simulations. As a result, advances in processor architectures increase AI capacity manyfold relative to traditional computing performance.

The system will be complemented by additional compute and storage resources, maximising its overall performance and usability. A key differentiator is its multi-tenant architecture, designed to meet the needs of diverse AI communities, combined with extensive API-based access to support modern development environments.

– We are proud to continue our work to support European research and innovation, competitiveness and resilience through developing digital research infrastructures and related capabilities. We want to support the European Commission in its endeavour to reinforce the ‘European way’ to technological sovereignty based on sustainability, human-centricity and European values, Koski continues.

Sustainability is a central aspect of the project. LUMI-AI is designed to capture and reuse excess heat, which will be fed into Kajaani’s district heating network. This approach will significantly increase the share of district heating generated using excess heat from CSC’s data centers. The data center construction work also follows ambitious sustainability goals. LUMI-AI will be 100% powered by renewable energy, making it one of the most energy- and eco-efficient supercomputers in the world.

A time for quantum computing integration

The LUMI-AI computing environment will be complemented by a quantum computing (QC) platform, LUMI-IQ,to be delivered by IQM Quantum Computers. Together, LUMI-AI and LUMI-IQ will form a leading hybrid computing platform enabling workloads combining HPC, AI and quantum computing. LUMI IQ will be located in the same data center as LUMI AI and be tightly integrated to it.

– This integrated approach is expected to enable new forms of scientific workloads that combine traditional simulation, machine learning, and quantum algorithms, opening new research avenues across science and industry. The new LUMI-AI system, together with the LUMI-IQ quantum computing platform will enable European research to drive academic breakthroughs and industrial RDI across Europe and thereby strengthening expertise, employment, and competitiveness across Europe in the 2030’s, tells Pekka Manninen, Director of LUMI AI Factory.

Media requests

Pekka Manninen, Director of LUMI AI Factory, CSC. email: pekka.manninen(at)csc.fi,
tel. +358 50 381 2831
media(at)lumi-supercomputer.eu

Read also

EuroHPC JU Signs Contract to Deploy the LUMI-AI Supercomputer

Bull selected to deliver Europe’s €387.8 million LUMI-AI supercomputer in Finland

IQM selected to deliver the LUMI-IQ quantum computer

About

EuroHPC JU: The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing. To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, distributed across Europe. It also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise. https://www.eurohpc-ju.europa.eu

LUMI AI Factory: The LUMI AI Factory is a leading-edge service infrastructure and expert support centre designed to accelerate AI innovation across Europe. The LUMI AI Factory delivers a seamless, open AI solution that integrates world-class supercomputing, high-value data, and top-tier AI expertise. It is the biggest AI Factory of the European Union. www.lumi-ai-factory.eu