Together with the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and world-leading AI computing company NVIDIA, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is establishing the Danish Centre for AI Innovation.
Once operational, researchers from Denmark’s public and private sectors will be able to gain access to a state-of-the-art NVIDIA AI supercomputer optimised for large-scale projects using AI, as well as world-leading NVIDIA software platforms, training, and expertise. The goal is to accelerate research and innovation in fields from healthcare and life sciences to the green transition, supporting the development of innovative solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Denmark’s new supercomputer – a large-scale NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD – is powered by NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and interconnected using NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking.
The supercomputer and collaboration with NVIDIA will help enable Denmark to pursue large-scale projects in countless fields where AI is a valuable tool, as well as within AI research itself. In selected flagship project areas, researchers will be able to engage with expert teams at NVIDIA to co-develop solutions to complex problems.
These include research in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, including protein design; the acceleration of the green transition; and the development of fault-tolerant (i.e. error-free) quantum computing.
Eviden, an Atos Group company and European leader in advanced computing, will deliver, install, and configure the supercomputer, named Gefion, and provide support with the start-up phase. The centre is expected to be ready for pilot projects before the end of 2024.
The Foundation has established a public limited company – the Danish Centre for AI Innovation A/S – that will own and operate the supercomputer, with all revenue reinvested in the initiative. EIFO is a minority owner, holding 15% of the shares.
Global data centre provider Digital Realty will host the supercomputer in one of its AI-ready facilities in Denmark. The data centre is designed and built to be sustainable and runs on 100% renewable energy.
The supercomputer will have the highest level of security and support Danish data sovereignty. Once fully operational, it will therefore be able to support projects involving sensitive data. No data will be stored permanently in the centre, and the centre’s users will be in full control of their data at all times.
Differential payment models are being developed that will balance commercial and academic use with the aim of meeting the centre’s current and future costs.
