It is expected to be 1,000 times faster than today’s more powerful counterparts
Japan has announced that it is building the first ‘zeta-class’ supercomputer, the world’s most powerful and fastest computing system.
Fugaku Next, as the new supercomputer has been tentatively named, will surpass current systems in power, being 1,000 times faster than today’s most powerful supercomputers. Fugaku Next is expected to be fully operational by 2030, according to the announcement. Its construction cost is expected to reach 750 million dollars. The new supercomputer is designed to operate at zetaFLOPS speeds, a scale of performance that has never been achieved before.
Today’s most powerful supercomputers can perform calculations of 19 digits (1 followed by 18 zeros) per second. A zetaFLOPS supercomputer will be able to perform 22 digit calculations (1 followed by 21 zeros) per second. This massive increase in computing power will enable Japan to tackle the most complex challenges in artificial intelligence and scientific research. As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly integral part of scientific progress, Japan’s commitment to developing this supercomputer underscores its determination to remain at the forefront of technological innovation.
Fugaku Next will be the “successor” of the Japanese supercomputer Fugaku (0.44 exaFLOPS), which was dethroned in 2002 by the US Frontier (1.2 exaFLOPS). Today, Fugaku is considered the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the world. Fugaku Next will be developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu, the two companies behind the original Fugaku. According to the Tom’s Hardware website, the new machine will likely feature components designed by Fujitsu, ensuring cross-compatibility between the two supercomputers.
One of the main challenges in building such a supercomputer is energy efficiency. An HPCwire report published in 2023 found that building such a machine with current technologies would require an enormous amount of energy, equivalent to the output of 21 nuclear power plants. This is a major hurdle that engineers must overcome to make Fugaku Next a reality.
