French tech company Bull has been chosen to supply the LUMI-AI supercomputer, a €387.8m ($450m) system funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and the LUMI AI Factory consortium, set for installation at CSC’s data centre in Kajaani, Finland.
The new infrastructure aims to boost Europe’s AI capacity by a factor of ten and nearly double the high-performance computing capabilities of the existing LUMI supercomputer.
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Deployment of LUMI-AI is scheduled for the second half of 2027.
The project’s investment is being split equally between EuroHPC JU and the LUMI AI Factory consortium, which includes partners from Finland, Estonia, Czechia, Norway, Denmark, and Poland.
Ownership of the new supercomputer will remain with EuroHPC JU.
The LUMI-AI system is expected to serve as the main technology platform for the LUMI AI Factory, underpinning AI developments and scientific simulations across sectors in Europe.
EuroHPC JU executive director Anders Jensen said: “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”
The LUMI-AI supercomputer will use Bull’s Direct Liquid Cooling system, a proprietary method that utilises warm water for cooling and captures excess heat, which will be fed into Kajaani’s district heating network.
The facility will operate entirely on renewable electricity and is being constructed with high environmental standards, according to the organisations involved.
Bull CEO Emmanuel Le Roux said: “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.”
Based on the BullSequana XH3500 architecture, the system will incorporate next-generation AMD Instinct MI430X GPUs and 6th Gen AMD EPYC 256-core processors.
The project’s other technology partners include IBM, responsible for storage solutions, and Nokia, supporting data centre networking alongside Bull’s BXI interconnect.
