The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reached a $1 billion agreement with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) to build two state-of-the-art supercomputers designed to accelerate nuclear research, fusion energy development, and cancer treatment, according to Reuters.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Reuters the systems would “supercharge advances in nuclear power and fusion energy, technologies for defense and national security, and the development of drugs.”
Wright noted that researchers are working to replicate fusion — the reaction that powers the sun — and added, “We’ve made great progress, but plasmas are unstable, and we need to recreate the center of the sun on Earth.”
Reuters reported that the first supercomputer, named Lux, will go online within six months and is based on AMD’s MI355X artificial intelligence chips. It is being co-developed by AMD, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
AMD CEO Lisa Su told Reuters the Lux system was “the fastest deployment of this size of computer that she has seen,” highlighting the “speed and agility” required to advance U.S. AI initiatives.
The second system, known as Discovery, will incorporate AMD’s upcoming MI430 chips, which are designed for AI workloads and high-performance computing. Delivery is expected in 2028, with full operation scheduled for 2029.
ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer told Reuters that Lux will provide “about three times the AI capacity of current supercomputers.”
The DOE and its industry partners will share access to both Lux and Discovery, which officials see as the first in a series of public-private supercomputing partnerships across the country.