India's AI supercomputer 'AIRAWAT' has earned the 75th spot in the esteemed Top 500 Global Supercomputing List, demonstrating the country's technological supremacy. The declaration was made at Germany's 61st International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023). In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of "AI for ALL," this propels India to the top of the list of countries having the fastest AI supercomputers. The Government of India's National Programme on AI includes the installation of 'AIRAWAT' at C-DAC Pune.
Difference between a supercomputer and a modern Laptop
Supercomputers combine the processing capacity of several servers or computing equipment to handle massive quantities of data processing and intricate calculations. A modern laptop or desktop can complete about 3 billion calculations per second to put things into perspective. Even if it is moving quickly, HPC solutions can carry out quadrillions of calculations per second and are still considered superior. However, Building HPC systems can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $1 billion, depending on the project size, not including ongoing operational costs.
Artificial intelligence has been the most promising innovation in the digital world
Artificial intelligence has been the most promising innovation in the digital world over the past six months. "Due to the enormous amount of data it has access to, as well as its robust digital economy and trained workforce, India has a strong ecosystem and a competitive advantage for AI. Alkesh Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), stated that India has been working in applied artificial intelligence with a focus on natural language processing, image progression, pattern recognition, agriculture, medical imaging, education, health care, audio assistance, robotics, and developing solutions for the strategic sectors. To empower individuals and organisations to address the most critical issues in society and the economy and improve the globe, India would embrace AI technology, he continued.
- A combined peak computed of 410 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision and sustained add the capability of 8.5 Petaflops (Rmax) Double Precision is produced by integrating the 200 AI Petaflop AIRAWAT PoC with the 210 AI Petaflop PARAM Siddhi-AI systems. 13 Petaflops is the maximum compute speed (Double Precision, Rpeak).
Conclusion
According to Shri Abhishek Singh, President & CEO of NeGD and MeitY Additional Secretary, "Proof of Concept (PoC) AI Research Analytics and Knowledge Dissemination Platform (AIRAWAT) of 200 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision peak compute capacity is currently funded by MeitY and implemented by C-DAC, Pune." He continued by saying that AIRAWAT is consistent with the country's mission of enabling technology and artificial intelligence to benefit ordinary people and contribute to the country's socio economic development. MeitY has already envisioned a path for increasing AIRAWAT to 1,000 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision compute capacity to meet the present demands for AI computation.