Dell Technologies, in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and NVIDIA, is building Horizon, the largest academic supercomputer in the United States. Scheduled to go operational in 2026, Horizon will serve as a powerful platform for open science and interdisciplinary research, supporting breakthroughs in national security, healthcare, climate science, and fundamental physics. This project marks a transformative leap in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for academic institutions. Built on Dell’s AI Factory architecture powered by NVIDIA technology, Horizon will deliver 300 petaflops of computational performance—representing a tenfold increase in simulation speed compared to TACC’s current top system, Frontera. The system will feature 1 million CPU cores and 4,000 NVIDIA GPUs, interconnected via high-speed NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking. At its core are Dell Integrated Rack Scalable Systems (IRSS), equipped with direct-liquid cooled PowerEdge servers using the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell platform and NVIDIA Vera CPUs, designed to handle the most demanding AI and HPC workloads with maximum efficiency and density. The supercomputer is a result of a long-standing partnership between Dell Technologies and TACC, which has previously delivered landmark systems like Stampede and Frontera. This new collaboration underscores Dell’s commitment to advancing research and innovation through cutting-edge infrastructure. Arun Narayanan, senior vice president of Compute and Networking at Dell Technologies, emphasized that Horizon will provide researchers with the tools needed to solve some of the world’s most complex scientific challenges. Dan Stanzione, Executive Director of TACC and Associate Vice President for Research at UT Austin, called Horizon a “game-changer for science.” He highlighted that the system represents the largest investment ever made by the National Science Foundation in computing infrastructure, reflecting its strategic importance to U.S. scientific leadership. With Horizon, researchers will gain faster, more consistent access to advanced computing resources, enabling them to tackle problems previously considered intractable. Horizon’s capabilities are especially significant in the era of AI-driven discovery. By integrating massive-scale AI training with traditional HPC, the system will accelerate research across diverse fields—from modeling climate change and developing new treatments for diseases to exploring the frontiers of quantum physics. The system’s design prioritizes both performance and energy efficiency, making it well-suited for the data-intensive demands of modern science. The project is not only a technological milestone but also a model for public-private collaboration in advancing science. By combining Dell’s infrastructure expertise, NVIDIA’s AI and GPU leadership, and TACC’s deep research experience, Horizon will empower thousands of researchers across the U.S. and beyond. Once operational, Horizon is expected to become a national resource for innovation, helping maintain American leadership in science, technology, and AI. It exemplifies how strategic investments in computing infrastructure can drive long-term progress, turning ambitious scientific questions into real-world solutions. As AI and HPC continue to converge, Horizon stands as a powerful symbol of what’s possible when industry, academia, and government work together to push the boundaries of human knowledge.