At a recent ceremony, Switzerland officially inaugurated its newest supercomputer — "Alps". This supercomputer is considered world-class in speed, and Switzerland hopes to establish itself as a leader in trusted AI solutions through its capabilities.
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The unveiling ceremony took place at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, southern Switzerland, where ETH Zurich officially launched the system.
Swiss Minister of Economy, Education, and Research Guy Parmelin said at the ceremony: "Alps embodies our vision for future knowledge and progress."
It's worth noting that Alps was ranked as the sixth most powerful supercomputer in the world in June, although it was only 60% complete at the time. Designed to meet extreme data and computational science needs, it is also capable of more comprehensive AI applications.
According to ETH Zurich, Alps is a crucial component in driving Switzerland to become a global hub for transparent and trusted AI solution development and implementation. Andreas Krause, head of the AI Center at ETH Zurich, stated: "Alps makes it possible to train complex AI models that play a critical role in important applications such as medical and climate research." In fact, the Swiss National Meteorological Service has already started using Alps to generate higher-resolution weather prediction models that better reflect Switzerland's complex mountainous and valley terrain.
On social platform X, Parmelin mentioned that Alps will "open new horizons, pave the way for the future, and place Switzerland at the forefront of scientific research."
CSCS Deputy Director Michele De Lorenzi revealed to Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS that the supercomputer's daily computational power is equivalent to what a typical commercial laptop would take 40,000 years to accomplish. The equipment for Alps is housed in 33 cabinets, covering an area of 116 square meters.
Key Points:
🌟 Switzerland's new supercomputer "Alps" is positioned as a center for trusted AI solutions.
🧠 Alps' computational power significantly enhances AI applications in fields like medicine and climate research.
⏳ A regular laptop would need 40,000 years to match the daily computational output of Alps, showcasing its formidable computing power.
