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Argonne Unveils New AI Supercomputers Through Major Public-Private Partnerships

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Argonne National Laboratory, NVIDIA, and Oracle have announced a groundbreaking public-private partnership to build the DOE’s largest AI supercomputer, marking a major leap in the nation’s push for scientific and technological leadership. The project, centered at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, will deliver two next-generation AI systems—Solstice and Equinox—featuring a combined 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and 2,200 exaflops of AI performance. This investment, backed by the Trump Administration’s focus on securing U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence, represents one of the most ambitious AI infrastructure initiatives in history. Solstice, the flagship system, will be powered by 100,000 Blackwell GPUs and is designed to serve as a national resource for public researchers. It will be built under a new public-private partnership model, integrating industry investment and real-world use cases to accelerate scientific discovery. The system will support the development and training of advanced AI models, including agentic AI—systems capable of planning, reasoning, and acting autonomously—using NVIDIA’s Megatron-Core library and TensorRT inference software. These capabilities will enable researchers to tackle complex challenges in healthcare, materials science, energy, and national security. Equinox, the second system, will include 10,000 Blackwell GPUs and is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026. Together, Solstice and Equinox will be interconnected via NVIDIA’s high-speed networking, creating a unified platform for large-scale AI research. The systems will also integrate with Argonne’s cutting-edge experimental facilities, such as the Advanced Photon Source, enabling real-time data analysis and closed-loop scientific workflows. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, described the initiative as a national engine for discovery, stating that AI is the most powerful technology of our time and that science is its greatest frontier. He emphasized the importance of public-private collaboration in driving innovation. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright praised the partnership as a “new common sense approach to computing,” highlighting its role in advancing U.S. leadership in AI and science. He credited President Trump’s administration for accelerating the deployment of critical computing infrastructure. Paul K. Kearns, director of Argonne National Laboratory, underscored the transformative potential of the systems, noting that they will prepare thousands of researchers to harness the power of AI for open science. The goal is to boost R&D productivity and deliver tangible breakthroughs within a decade. Oracle’s involvement brings sovereign cloud capabilities through its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), ensuring secure, scalable, and high-performance access to the systems. Clay Magouyrk, Oracle CEO, emphasized the partnership’s role in addressing the nation’s most complex challenges through innovation. This initiative reflects a broader trend of integrating AI into fundamental research, enabling scientists to analyze vast datasets, simulate complex systems, and accelerate discovery. While the Solstice system’s construction is still underway, the project sets a new standard for how government, industry, and academia can collaborate to build the AI infrastructure of the future. By combining NVIDIA’s AI hardware, Oracle’s cloud expertise, and Argonne’s scientific leadership, the DOE aims to maintain U.S. technological superiority in AI and science for decades to come. The Solstice and Equinox systems will not only advance research but also serve as a model for future national AI infrastructure projects.

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