A supercomputer developed by Fujitsu and Japan’s Riken research institute was ranked the world’s fastest in an independent survey, beating US and Chinese rivals.
Built using technology from SoftBank Group’s ARM, the Fugaku cluster has more than 150 000 processors and roughly 2.8 times the performance of the second fastest supercomputer, according to Top500, a research organisation that compiles the rankings twice a year.
It marks the first time that a Japanese supercomputer has led the ranking since Fujitsu’s K computer took the crown in 2011, the company said. It also boosts ARM’s claims that it can compete with the likes of Intel Corp. in high-performance computing.
The new supercomputer is installed at the Riken Centre for Computational Science in Kobe and will begin full operation in 2021. It will contribute to research in areas from drug discovery to weather forecasting and help shape policy decisions.
ARM processors power most of the world’s smartphones and Apple just announced a transition to building its Mac computers around the technology. — Reported by Vlad Savov, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP