Denmark Launches Sovereign AI Supercomputer 'Gefion' with NVIDIA, Boosting Research and Innovation

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang joins King of Denmark to launch sovereign AI supercomputer

AI-Assisted TLDR: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and the King of Denmark launched Denmark's largest AI supercomputer, "Gefion," aimed at advancing quantum computing, clean energy, and biotechnology. Gefion, an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, features 1528 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core AI CPUs and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking.* Generated from the content by Anthony Garreffa below. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang joined the King of Denmark to launch the country's largest sovereign AI supercomputer, which is aimed at breakthroughs in quantum computing, clean energy, biotechnology and other areas serving Danish society and the world. Denmark's first AI supercomputer has been dubbed "Gefion" after a goddess in Danish mythology, as an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD powered by 1528 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core AI CPUs, interconnected using NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. Jensen said: "Gefion is going to be a factory of intelligence. And this factory of intelligence is a new industry that never existed before; it sits on top of the IT industry - we're inventing something fundamentally new. Denmark recognizes that to innovate in AI, the most impactful technology of our time, it must foster a domestic AI infrastructure and ecosystem. The Gefion supercomputer will supercharge the scientists of Denmark with local AI computing infrastructure to drive advancements in life sciences, climate research, and quantum computing". He continued: "What country can afford not to have this infrastructure, just as every country realizes you have communications, transportation, healthcare, fundamental infrastructures - the fundamental infrastructure of any country surely must be the manufacturer of intelligence. For Denmark to be one of the handful of countries in the world that has now initiated on this vision is really incredible".

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and the King of Denmark plug in the country's first AI supercomputer -- Gefion leverages 1,528 Nvidia H100 AI GPUs

King Frederik X of Denmark practically called Huang a king with a leather jacket on. Jensen Huang and King Frederik X of Denmark met on stage in Copenhagen to symbolically plug in the Gefion AI supercomputer. This supercomputer is the first one to be based in Denmark and is designed to drive research in quantum computing, medicine, green energy, and more. It's built on the Nvidia DGX SuperPOD platform and uses 1,528 Nvidia H100 GPUs, allowing it to fuel the rapid growth of the Danish industry. "Gefion is going to be a factory of intelligence. And this factory of intelligence is a new industry that never existed before; it sits on top of the IT industry -- we're inventing something fundamentally new." Huang said during the launch. He added, "Denmark recognizes that to innovate in AI, the most impactful technology of our time, it must foster a domestic AI infrastructure and ecosystem. The Gefion supercomputer will supercharge the scientists of Denmark with local AI computing infrastructure to drive advancements in life sciences, climate research, and quantum computing." Nvidia is at the forefront of developing AI hardware, and this rush by several companies and tech giants to gain the lead in this burgeoning industry has made the company the most valuable in the world, ahead of Apple, Microsoft, and Google (although it has since gone down to third place). This demand also made Jensen Huang, its CEO, among the world's richest, with a net worth greater than Intel's market cap. The King of Denmark even jokingly said, "I can feel that I am not the only king in this room -- I think the other one has a leather jacket on. And I think it's cool to have you here, Jensen." The Gefion AI supercomputer is owned and operated by the Danish Centre for AI Innovation A/S (DCAI), a partnership between the private Novo Nordisk Foundation and the government-owned Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO). The former committed DKK 600 million, around US$87 million, towards the supercomputer's initial cost, while the latter provided DKK 100 million, or about US$14.5 million. This investment gave the Danish government a 15% stake in DCAI through the EIFO. Denmark has been investing heavily in technology, with a deep focus on AI and research, allowing it to become a technological leader. The launch of Gefion would help accelerate the Danish AI industry even further, helping the country cement its place in the future of high-performance computing.

Denmark Launches Sovereign AI Supercomputer Gefion with Nvidia

DMI plans to enhance weather forecasts with reduced processing times. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, alongside King Frederik X of Denmark, inaugurated Denmark's largest AI supercomputer, Gefion, on Wednesday. Named after a goddess in Danish mythology, Gefion is equipped with 1,528 Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPUs and interconnected using Nvidia Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. Also Read: Aidoc Partners With Nvidia to Establish Guideline to Accelerate AI Adoption in Healthcare The largest sovereign AI supercomputer aims to achieve breakthroughs in quantum computing, clean energy, biotechnology, and other fields serving Danish society and the world, the official release said. The new AI supercomputer was symbolically turned on by King Frederik X of Denmark, Huang and Nadia Carlsten, CEO of DCAI, at an event in Copenhagen. Operated by the Danish Center for AI Innovation (DCAI), which received funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Gefion seeks to advance research in quantum computing, clean energy, biotechnology, and more. "Gefion is going to be a factory of intelligence. This is a new industry that never existed before. It sits on top of the IT industry. We're inventing something fundamentally new," Huang said. The new AI supercomputer is expected to address global challenges by providing insights into infectious diseases, climate change, and food security. Gefion is currently being prepared for users, and a pilot phase will begin to bring in projects that seek to use AI to accelerate progress, including in such areas as quantum computing, drug discovery and energy efficiency, Nvidia announced. The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) plans to enhance weather forecasts by reducing processing times from hours to minutes while minimising energy consumption. Also Read: Microsoft Expands AI Capabilities with New Autonomous Agents for Businesses Furthermore, researchers from the University of Copenhagen will utilise Gefion to simulate quantum circuits, moving closer to "quantum supremacy." Other projects include developing a multi-modal genomic foundation model for disease mutation analysis and vaccine design, as well as an AI Care Companion from the startup Teton. Huang emphasised the importance of sovereign AI, asserting that every nation must invest in its own infrastructure to manufacture intelligence. With Gefion, Denmark aims to position itself at the forefront of global scientific advancements, driving innovation with significant social impact.

Nvidia Launches Danish Sovereign AI Supercomputer That Novo Nordisk Will Use

Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk (NVO) plans to use Denmark's first sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer -- powered by Nvidia (NVDA) technology -- for drug discovery. On Wednesday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and King Frederik X of Denmark unveiled "Gefion": a supercomputer named after a goddess in Danish mythology and equipped with 1,528 Nvidia GPUs. Sovereign AI refers to a nation's capabilities to produce artificial intelligence using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks, Nvidia said. "The era of computer-aided drug discovery must be within this decade," Huang said in a news release. "I'm hoping that what the computer did to the technology industry, it will do for digital biology." The Novo Nordisk Foundation owns the supercomputer, and Novo Nordisk -- the company behind popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy -- will be among the first to use it. The foundation owns all of Novo Nordisk's Class A shares, which represent about a quarter of the company's capital. Nvidia and Denmark are "inventing something fundamentally new," with the launch of Gefion, Huang said. "Gefion is going to be a factory of intelligence," Huang said. "This is a new industry that never existed before. It sits on top of the IT industry." Novo Nordisk, along with the University of Copenhagen and others, are building a "genomic foundation model for discoveries in disease mutation analysis and vaccine design," by training larger language models on Gefion. Other Gefion pilot projects include a Danish Meteorological Institute effort to deliver faster and more accurate weather forecasts and a University of Copenhagen project to carry out a large-scale simulation of quantum computer circuits.