Britain has just unveiled its leading supercomputer. Here's its position in the global rankings.

      The UK has recently introduced its most advanced supercomputer, now ranked as the 11th most powerful globally. Isambard-AI, which is based at the University of Bristol, officially became operational this week. This system was constructed by Hewlett-Packard Enterprises (HPE) utilizing its Cray EX architecture and is equipped with more than 5,400 NVIDIA Grace Hopper superchips.

      It boasts a raw computing power of 216.5 petaflops, with a peak theoretical capability of 278.6 petaflops. For reference, one petaflop corresponds to 1 quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) calculations per second. The performance is over ten times that of the UK's next-fastest supercomputer, the Njoerd supercluster located in London.

      With funding of £225 million ($300 million) from the government, Isambard-AI is set up to perform complex artificial intelligence and scientific calculations, ranging from protein structure modeling to climate change simulations and the training of large language models.

      When comparing Isambard-AI to the most powerful supercomputers worldwide, it is notable that although it claims the title of the UK’s most powerful, it encounters strong competition on the global stage. According to the TOP500 list, the current leading supercomputer is El Capitan in the United States, achieving an impressive performance of 1,742 petaflops.

      Frontier and Aurora rank second and third, both being American systems that operate above the 1,000-petaflop mark—equivalent to one exaflop. These top three supercomputers are the only operational exascale systems currently.

      Germany's JUPITER Booster holds the position as Europe’s leading supercomputer, ranking fourth globally. Additionally, the continent features four other systems within the top 10: Italy's HPC6 (6th), Switzerland's Alps (8th), Finland's LUMI (9th), and Italy's Leonardo (10th).

      Nonetheless, Isambard-AI’s recognition within the top 11 marks a significant advancement for the UK, whose Labour government aims to position the nation at the forefront of AI development.

      Peter Kyle, the UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, remarked that this new supercomputer would "propel" the UK to the "forefront of AI discovery." He stated, “Today we put the most powerful computer system in the country into the hands of British researchers and entrepreneurs.”

      Initial applications for Isambard-AI include supporting a prostate cancer detection system developed by University College London and aiding researchers in Liverpool in their quest for greener and more sustainable industrial materials.

      However, Isambard-AI's time at the top may be brief. In June, the administration led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged £750 million towards a supercomputer in Edinburgh, which aims to establish one of the world's few exascale systems for the UK.