High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart
Under the AI Antenna agreement, HammerHAI will provide access for the UKAIFA user community to a new, large-scale AI-optimized supercomputer that is scheduled for installation at HLRS in early 2026. HammerHAI will work with UKAIFA to enable secure, federated data sharing and cross-platform compatibility. This collaboration will also enable UKAIFA to integrate with the wider EuroHPC AI Factory network, leveraging HammerHAI’s connections to participate in European AI infrastructure development efforts.
In a press release announcing the UKAIFA, EPCC Director and UKAIFA Lead Coordinator Professor Mark Parsons said, “EPCC and HLRS have led the use of national supercomputing services in Europe by industry over the past 30 years. The emergence of AI as a key application of supercomputing, and this funding from EuroHPC and the UK Government, is now enabling our organizations to embark on this new collaboration. We’re honored to be working with HLRS and the University of Stuttgart again.”
Recognizing that large scale adoption of AI will require more than computational hardware, the UKAIFA will also provide companies the knowledge and tools they need to develop and implement innovative AI products and services. The UKAIFA will offer training for AI skills development, expert support and consulting services, and access to relevant datasets and other resources that will enable them to create and roll out artificial intelligence applications more quickly.
The UKAIFA will support a wide range of stakeholders, user communities, and industries that are important within the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region, including the financial technology, health, energy, food and drink, tourism, creative, robotics, and space and satellites sectors. This profile complements that of HammerHAI, which concentrates on delivering advanced AI capabilities for fields including manufacturing, engineering, global challenges, and research.
The UK AI Factory Antenna will build on the expertise gained over more than 20 years of collaboration between EPCC and HLRS. Working together, the two organizations have become leaders in bringing high-performance computing and artificial intelligence to European industry. EPCC launched the highly successful Fortissimo project series, which since 2012 has worked with more than 3,000 companies to support their use of supercomputing to develop innovative products, improve efficiency, and compete more effectively in the global marketplace. HLRS continues to coordinate the latest iteration of this project, called FFplus.
Dr. Bastian Koller, Managing Director at HLRS and Lead Coordinator of HammerHAI, welcomed the announcement of the UK AI Antenna saying, “Considering the shared commitment and expertise that HLRS and EPCC have in bringing HPC and AI to industry, the UKAIFA is a perfect match for HammerHAI. It will enable us to build on our past successes to focus intently on the most urgent challenges European companies currently face in adopting and scaling up artificial intelligence applications.”
By producing and documenting success stories of effective and innovative applications of artificial intelligence, the UKAIFA will provide inspiring examples and valuable knowledge that will encourage and enable SMEs, startups, and larger enterprises to take advantage of the rapidly emerging opportunities that artificial intelligence offers.
“This partnership reinforces HammerHAI’s commitment to advancing AI innovation across Europe’s industries,” said Dennis Hoppe, head of the HLRS Department of Converged Computing and project manager of HammerHAI. “Together, we will contribute to accelerating AI adoption, providing secure and scalable AI resources for academia and business.”
The UKAIFA us funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the UK Government with a total budget of €10 million over the next 3 years.
Established as Germany's first AI Factory, HammerHAI provides secure, scalable AI resources for startups, SMEs, large enterprises, and scientific institutions in need of powerful computing capabilities for AI-driven solutions. Focusing particularly on the needs of industry, manufacturing, and engineering, HammerHAI features an AI-optimized supercomputer for training and inference, as well as an expert team that provides personalized support for AI users at all stages in the AI lifecycle. It offers consulting services and professional education, and collaborates with other AI initiatives to accelerate the uptake of AI technologies in Europe. HammerHAI is coordinated by the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart in partnership with the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and SICOS BW.
HammerHAI has received funding from the European High Performance Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 101234027. This project is co-funded by the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture.
EPCC is the supercomputing centre at the University of Edinburgh. It was established in 1990 and has hosted national supercomputing services since 1994. Earlier this year it was formally acknowledged by the UK Government as the UK’s first National Supercomputing Centre. With 150 staff and 160 postgraduate students it has a wide range of activities including the provision of supercomputing services, training, research, and industry collaboration. The University of Edinburgh has led the development of AI for over 60 years and EPCC is a key part of that success.
Sophia Honisch, Head of Public Relations, Universität Stuttgart, High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Stuttgart (HLRS), Tel.: +49 (0) 711 / 685-68038, honisch(at)hlrs.de
A member of the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing, HLRS is one of three German national centers for high-performance computing.
