UK's Leading Supercomputer Resides Within Isambard-AI
The UK's latest technological marvel, Isambard-AI, was officially inaugurated on July 17, 2025, at the National Composites Centre (NCC) near Bristol, England. Backed by a £225 million investment, this supercomputer is one of the UK's most powerful, capable of processing vast amounts of data and supporting high-performance computing and advanced AI research.
Located at the NCC, Isambard-AI draws 5MW from its zero-carbon grid supply, making it one of the greenest supercomputers globally, ranking fourth on the Green500 list. The supercomputer's green design includes a cooling system that runs 90% dry, reducing water usage, and a 100% zero-carbon energy supply.
Isambard-AI consists of 12 cabinets, each containing eight Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips, totalling 5,448 GPUs. The HPE Slingshot 11 interconnect allows data to be shared at 200Gbits/sec within Isambard-AI. From ideation to first computation, the supercomputer was assembled in just two years, much faster than the usual four to five years for a project of this scale.
The supercomputer is a pivotal component in the UK's AI research and innovation landscape, playing a crucial role in advancing various scientific fields. It operates in collaboration with the National Supercomputing Centres and the AI Research Resource, fostering a network of expertise that connects academia, industry, and researchers.
Isambard-AI is being utilised to improve drug discovery by leveraging AI to analyse extensive datasets. For instance, researchers are using it to better understand critical proteins involved in diseases, which can lead to the development of new treatments. In the healthcare sector, Isambard-AI is being used for analysing MRI scans to identify cancer cases earlier and provide personalised treatment plans. It also aids in understanding diseases like dementia by analysing video data.
In the climate research field, Isambard-AI contributes to predicting climate changes more accurately by providing the computational power needed to process large climate datasets. The supercomputer is also being used by the Rosalind Franklin Institute to analyse placenta for a better understanding of pregnancy health and specific diseases.
The supercomputer's technology is based on the same platform as the world's three exascale supercomputers: El Capitan, Frontier, and Aurora. Isambard-AI is more powerful than all the other UK supercomputers combined, with a total AI performance of 21 exaflops and a linpack performance of 216 petaflops.
Researchers can use Isambard-AI for free, and private businesses can bid for time at competitive rates, subject to DSIT approval. In the future, waste heat from Isambard-AI will be used to heat the NCC, and the team is working with South Gloucestershire Council to distribute this heat to local businesses and homes.
The UK government has announced £750 million for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, expected to be an exascale system. The UK's AI Research Resource (AIRR) includes Isambard-AI and Dawn, a 19 petaflop supercomputer based at the University of Cambridge. The government has also set a goal to increase the country's compute capacity twentyfold by 2030.
The team behind Isambard-AI expressed excitement about the potential for future supercomputers to be built at this speed, with reliable access to next-generation chips like Nvidia's Blackwell GB200 chips or future chips like the upcoming Vera Rubin. They emphasised the importance of speed in assembling the supercomputer to keep it competitive in the rapidly evolving world of AI and high-performance computing.
Isambard-AI serves as a catalyst for innovation across multiple sectors by providing advanced computational resources and facilitating collaboration between leading research institutions and industries. It is a significant step forward in the UK's quest to establish sovereign AI capabilities and solidify its position as a global leader in AI research and innovation.
Isambard-AI, with its advancements in data-and-cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence, is also enhancing cybersecurity by providing the computational power needed to process and analyze large datasets, thereby bolstering the UK's digital defenses. Furthermore, the Green500 ranking of Isambard-AI signifies its contribution towards infrastructure sustainability, as it operates on a zero-carbon grid supply and incorporates energy-efficient cooling systems.
