The Leonardo Improved Supercomputing Architecture (LISA) upgrade will boost the current Leonardo supercomputer’s performance by introducing new functionalities to meet evolving user needs. 

The LISA upgrade incorporates an AI-optimised partition, allowing for more artificial intelligence (AI) applications to be processed and to better support the development of Large Language Models and multi-modal generative AI, as well as a considerable extension of the overall capacity of Leonardo. 

With AI continuing to play an increasingly important role in the European HPC landscape, EuroHPC JU is investing in technologies that will enhance the AI capabilities of its supercomputing infrastructure.

The LISA upgrade will  integrate advanced components such as next-generation GPUs and CPUs as well as high-bandwidth memory which will improve Leonardo’s performance by making it more efficient and precise in executing AI tasks. LISA's network infrastructure will also offer optimal performance for training large AI models, ensuring effective data exchange across NUMA nodes with maximum bandwidth and minimal latency.

Leonardo, a EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputer, is currently operational at the Bologna Technopole in Italy. Supplied by ATOS and based on the BullSequana XH2000 supercomputer, it is hosted by CINECA. Leonardo already has a GPU partition (named Leonardo Booster), which can perform over 240 petaflops, while its x86 CPU partition (Data-Centric) delivers 9 petaflops. Currently, Leonardo ranks 7th on the TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers and 28th globally on the Green500 ranking.

The estimated total value of the procurement of the LISA upgrade is 28,167,942.00 EUR. Access to the upgraded system's computing resources will continue to be jointly managed by the EuroHPC JU and CINECA.

The deadline to submit proposals is set for 8 November 2024, 17:00 CET. 

More details on the procurement call can be found on this dedicated webpage.

Background

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is a legal and funding entity created in 2018 to enable the European Union and EuroHPC JU participating countries to coordinate their efforts and pool their resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing. 

In order to equip Europe with a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured nine supercomputers, located across Europe. Three of these EuroHPC supercomputers are now ranked among the world’s top 10 most powerful supercomputers: LUMI in Finland, Leonardo in Italy and MareNostrum 5 in Spain.  

No matter where in Europe they are located, European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from these EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe. 

Recently reviewed by means of Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1732, the EuroHPC JU received a new mandate to develop and operate AI factories. These comprehensive open AI ecosystems centered around EuroHPC supercomputing facilities will support the growth of a highly competitive and innovative AI ecosystem in Europe.