Japan is taking a giant leap in the field of supercomputing with plans to build the first-ever ‘zeta-class’ supercomputer. This cutting-edge machine, expected to be fully operational by 2030, will be 1,000 times faster than the current most powerful supercomputers, marking a substantial advancement in computational power.
The initiative was publicly announced on August 28 by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). The project, dubbed ‘Fugaku Next,’ will be a successor to Japan’s current Fugaku supercomputer, which is housed at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe, Hyogo.
Achieving speeds on the zetaFLOPS scale—where a single zetaFLOP represents one sextillion operations per second—Fugaku Next aims to outstrip the capabilities of today’s exaFLOPS supercomputers, which can perform just over one quintillion calculations per second.
The colossal project comes with an estimated price tag of over $750 million. MEXT has earmarked ¥4.2 billion ($29 million) for the first year, with a total budget potentially reaching up to ¥110 billion ($761 million). This investment underscores Japan’s strategic push to remain at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) and scientific research.
However, building a machine of this caliber brings its unique set of challenges, particularly in terms of energy efficiency. A 2023 report from HPCwire indicated that a zeta-class machine, if built today using current technologies, would require energy equivalent to the output of 21 nuclear power plants. This is a significant obstacle engineers will need to overcome to make Fugaku Next a reality.
The new supercomputer will likely be developed by the same companies behind Fugaku, RIKEN, and Fujitsu, ensuring compatibility between Fugaku and Fugaku Next. Despite the extensive planning, details about the specific components and technologies that will be used in the new machine remain limited.
The necessity to build such a supercomputer stems from the accelerating development of AI, which increasingly plays a crucial role in scientific advancement. As stated by the Japanese news site Nikkei, the decision aims to align Japan with the ongoing progression of scientific research leveraging AI technology.
Fugaku, which once held the title of the world’s fastest supercomputer with 0.44 exaFLOPS, is currently the fourth most powerful. It was surpassed in 2022 by the US’s Frontier supercomputer, which operates at 1.2 exaFLOPS. Nonetheless, Fugaku still stands as a testament to Japan’s technological expertise.
If successful, Fugaku Next will not just reclaim the title of the most powerful supercomputer but also pave the way for unprecedented advancements in AI and scientific research. Provided no other nation constructs a zeta-class machine first, which appears unlikely, Japan’s zeta-class supercomputer will be unmatched in its computational prowess.
In summary, Japan’s plan to build Fugaku Next represents a monumental step forward in supercomputing. Despite the formidable challenge of achieving energy efficiency, the project signifies Japan’s commitment to maintaining its edge in AI and scientific research as it enters the zetaFLOPS era.