Japan currently possesses one of the world's fastest supercomputers, Fugaku. However, Japanese scientists plan to elevate this system with a major upgrade: the Fugaku Next supercomputer, which will be approximately 1,000 times faster. This new supercomputer will be the world's first zetta-class machine.
A zetta-class machine is defined as one that can reach zettaFLOPS levels, indicating the number of floating-point operations per second (FLOPS), which measures a system's computational speed and problem-solving capacity.
The Frontier supercomputer in the U.S. demonstrated a speed of 1.1 exaFLOPS (1.1 quintillion operations) a few years ago. ZettaFLOPS aims to multiply this figure by a thousand, achieving a processing capacity of sextillion operations (1.111111111111111111111).
Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced that construction of this new machine will begin in 2025, with plans for it to be operational by 2030. The government has allocated a budget of 110 billion yen (approximately 780 million USD) for this project.
The new supercomputer will take over Fugaku's tasks while possessing significantly higher processing power. MEXT's official project details emphasize the importance of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, which presents complex challenges that Fugaku Next could address.
Supercomputers remain essential tools for scientists, used in fields ranging from black hole simulations to discovering new materials, modeling the future of the planet, and fundamental mathematics. As their power increases, their capabilities continue to expand.
Unlike quantum computers, supercomputers are not fundamentally different from the desktops and laptops we use daily; they are simply scaled up, using the same processors, memory, and storage technologies at the highest levels. They excel in complex simulations, making a significant impact in areas like weather systems and deep-space missions.
The new zetta-class machine will be able to train on much larger datasets, producing faster, more detailed, and accurate results. If everything goes according to plan, a new standard for supercomputers will be established within six years.
