Leonardo supercomputer at AI week

Daniele Cesarini, Project Manager & HPC Technology Specialist CINECA, attended the AI week in Rimini on 9 and 10 April. In his presentation ‘AI on the shoulders of giants: the Leonardo supercomputer at the Big Data Technopole in Bologna ‘Daniele spoke about the project to upgrade the Leonardo supercomputer, which will be called LISA – Leonardo Improved Supercomputing Architecture. With an investment of 28 million euros over three years, 65% of which will come from Italy and 35% from Europe, with EuroHPC JU, LISA will take high-performance computing to new levels: one of LISA’s most innovative features will be the partition dedicated to Artificial Intelligence, which will allow more power for the development of cutting-edge generative AI models.

The Leonardo supercomputer at the Bologna Technopole represents a fundamental point of reference for innovation and technological development in Italy and Europe because it is part of the European supercomputing ecosystem, the heart of the EU project supporting the ‘European AI Factory ‘. The European Commission’s goal is to support public research, start-ups and SMEs in Artificial Intelligence. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Artificial Intelligence is a huge opportunity, for Europe. We do have a lot, but we have to unleash this potential that is out there. We want to encourage our businesses, our researchers, the innovators, the entrepreneurs, to develop Artificial Intelligence. And we want to encourage our citizens to feel confident to use it.“