The JUPITER AI Factory (JAIF) officially kicked off with an inaugural meeting that brought together leading experts and stakeholders in the field of AI and high-performance computing. The event was marked by insightful speeches, a guest lecture, and a lively panel discussion.
© Kristina Barinka
The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert, Director of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), and Prof. Dr. Holger Hoos, Chairman of the Board of the RWTH AI Center. Their speeches underscored the unique capabilities of JUPITER, the first European Exascale Supercomputer, and its potential to combine AI and simulation in ways unmatched by systems in the USA.
Mathis Bode, JAIF Project Manager, provided a detailed overview of the development of the JUPITER Exascale Supercomputer, highlighting its unique features and the relevance of JAIF in integrating this powerful resource into the European AI landscape.
Stefan Mesken, Chief Scientist at DeepL, delivered a compelling guest lecture on the prerequisites for the success of JAIF and other AI factories in Europe. He emphasized the need for relevant data, young talent, and outstanding infrastructure to set new global standards.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Decker, Director of the Fraunhofer FIT, highlighted the role of Fraunhofer FIT as a link between European data spaces and AI applications at the JUPITER AI Factory. He stressed the importance of Europe’s transition to a sovereign AI society and the contribution of Fraunhofer FIT in achieving this goal.
Sabine Demey, representative of the Belgian AI Factory Antenna (BE-AIFA), emphasized the importance of cross-border collaboration in the successful implementation of AI in industry, research, healthcare, and society.
Tobias Kehl from hessian.AI discussed the importance of supporting the entire process chain from idea to application, leveraging JUPITER’s Exascale computing power.
Roland Jakab, CEO of the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN), explained the significance of the strategic cooperation for the Hungarian research and innovation ecosystem.
The event concluded with a panel discussion featuring representatives from the JAIF consortium, including Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert, Prof. Dr. Holger Hoos, Dr. Joachim Köhler from Fraunhofer IAIS, Christopher Tauchmann from hessian.AI, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Decker. The discussion focused on the necessity of a stable environment for training models with data and the urgency of implementing AI Giga Factories to maintain Europe’s global competitiveness.
The inaugural meeting of JAIF is setting the stage for collaborative efforts to advance AI research and application in Europe.