Supercomputer: Fugaku NEXT will be Japan’s first zetta-class supercomputer

Redazione RHC : 27 August 2025 08:14

RIKEN, Fujitsu, and Nvidia are collaborating on the development of FugakuNEXT, Japan’s new flagship supercomputer, scheduled to become operational at the RIKEN campus in Kobe around 2030.

With an estimated budget of approximately 110 billion yen (approximately $740 million), FugakuNEXT is the successor to the current Fugaku, currently ranked seventh in the world’s supercomputer rankings.

The goal is ambitious: to reach 600 exaFLOPS (EFLOPS) of precision. FP8, a milestone that would make it the world’s first zetta-class (10²¹) supercomputer. Compared to Fugaku, the new system will offer an overall performance improvement of more than 100x, thanks to:

• a hardware increase of approximately 5x
• software optimizations ranging from 10x to 20x

All this while maintaining energy efficiency unchanged, with an estimated consumption of 40 MW.

Architecture and key technologies

• Fujitsu MONAKA-X CPU: successor to the MONAKA CPU, currently in development.
• Nvidia GPU accelerators: with NVLink Fusion interconnect for high-bandwidth communication between CPU and GPU.
• Memory and Advanced connectivity: designed to build a hybrid AI-HPC platform, capable of combining scientific simulation and artificial intelligence.

A supercomputer at the service of science

FugakuNEXT will be based on the “AI for Science” platform, designed to automate and accelerate complex research processes. Among the main applications:

• seismic and natural disaster simulations
• climate and environmental modeling
• optimization of industrial production
• multidisciplinary AI-based research

The project represents not only a technological advancement, but also a strategic investment in Japan’s semiconductor sovereignty, with a strong commitment to international collaboration, particularly with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Development Roadmap

• 2025 → Completion of basic design
• 2026 → Start Detailed design
• 2030 → System commissioning

In parallel, “Virtual Fugaku” will be made available, a cloud environment that will allow developers to start working on the software in the early stages, with the possibility of integrating hybrid quantum computing (QC-HPC) capabilities in the future.

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