Isambard AI

Isambard-AI is a new GPU-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing system to deliver a national AI Research Resource (AIRR) for the UK, as recommended in the “Independent Review of The Future of Compute: Final report and recommendations ”, and to support the Frontier AI safety taskforce. This new AIRR will support several initiatives, particularly on AI safety and foundational models, where the UK aims to establish a leadership position. Isambard-AI will be delivered as a “self-contained unit”. The RFP and Contract covers, in summary, the following mandatory requirements: 1. The scale-out GPU-based production system 2. An early access GPU-based system with AI storage 3. High performance network fabric 4. System management support for multi-tenancy: 5. Support for 5 years of service 6. One or more self-contained units 7. Energy efficiency 8. Storage solutions optimised for AI training and inference 9. AI supercomputing facility access and gateway nodes 10. Data Centre Connectivity and Edge Router for Services 11. UPS 12. Data transfer and mover tool 13. Software and licenses 14. Security monitoring, auditing and compliance 15. Monitoring, reporting and RAS tools 16. Eventual decommissioning 17. Training / handover 18. Environmental impact