American tech company Nvidia, which designs graphics processing units for the gaming and professional markets, and co-founder Chris Malachowsky, have donated $50 million in funds, services and technology to the University of Florida, to create an artificial intelligence data center.
The donation – supported by an additional $20 million from the university, will be used to create the “world’s fastest AI supercomputer in higher education.” Nvidia’s $25 million gift will provide discounts on hardware, software, services and training – while Malachowsky’s donation is a financial contribution. Nvidia’s Deep Learning Institute will help develop new courses for the university, including programming for young adults and teens, as part of the partnership, which will also see collaboration on AI projects between University of Florida graduate fellows and Nvidia employees.
“They should be able to make marked advancements in science, but the use of AI, to infuse it into the workforce and to help businesses upskill and become more competitive, it’s something that [the University of Florida] is quite interested in, and they have the resources and the reach to make that happen,” explained Malachowsky, who attended the college and met his future wife there.
The University of Florida’s iCoast initiative, which studies the rising sea levels along the Florida coastline and generates data streams on water temperature, salinity, chemistry and biological life, is one of the projects expected to benefit from the new system.
“We launched this iCoast initiative before this remarkable AI opportunity came along, and we are in the process of generating massive amounts of data that absolutely require the capabilities of this machine to completely understand,” said Joe Glover, the university provost.
The new system is expected to be one of the 10 fastest AI-focused supercomputers in the world once it goes live in 2021. Students and researchers throughout Florida will be able to access the system, alongside other educational institutions with less resources.
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