The University of Southern Denmark, in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) a global edge-to-cloud company, and Danfoss, a Danish multinational engineering group, has launched a national AI supercomputer named Bitten, designed to support research and teaching across Danish universities.
According to a press release, HPE supplied the infrastructure for the system, which is designed for generative AI workloads. The facility was inaugurated at Alsion in Sønderborg and is now part of Denmark’s national research infrastructure.
The system enables researchers and students to work with larger datasets and more advanced AI models through a shared infrastructure. Access will be provided through UCloud, a research platform developed by the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University and Aarhus University, which currently has more than 23,000 users. The system is also intended to support startups and university spin-outs by providing access to advanced AI and data analytics tools.
Professor Claudio Pica, director of the SDU eScience Center, said, “Digital infrastructure is a strategic resource for both research and education. Researchers and students now have much better opportunities to work with larger datasets and more advanced models across institutions than has previously been practically possible in a shared Danish infrastructure.”
Carsten Nielsen, vice president and managing director, Nordic Cluster, HPE, said, “HPE is proud to collaborate with the University of Southern Denmark and Danfoss in establishing AI and supercomputing infrastructure for Danish research. This new system is among the most advanced in Denmark for generative AI workloads and represents a significant technological upgrade of the national AI infrastructure.”
The supercomputer has been named Bitten, after Bitten Clausen, who played an important role in Danfoss’ early development and became one of the first female chairpersons in European industry. The name also reflects the supercomputer’s strong Danish roots and the ambition to promote greater diversity within technology and research environments, where women remain underrepresented.
Sune Tornbo Baastrup, CIO, Danfoss, said, “We have created a unique supercomputing that delivers both high computational power and acts as an active part of the energy system. This makes it possible to work with data volumes and AI models at the scale required to develop and deploy advanced artificial intelligence not only in Denmark but also internationally.”
The project also focuses on energy efficiency since the supercomputer uses liquid cooling with full heat recovery, and excess heat will be reused as part of Sønderborg Municipality’s plan to develop a carbon-neutral energy system.