Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Aug 31

Little Isambard getting ready for a trip. Stay tuned for a mixture of proper work updates and some fun ones.

Reposted by Richard Gilham

Simon McIntosh-Smith @simonmcs.bsky.social · Jul 21

After the official switch on of Isambard-AI last week, you can now apply for time on this amazing resource! Open for researchers and companies in the UK, find out how to apply to the UK's newest and fastest supercomputer at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/p...

AIRR advanced supercomputers for the UK

www.gov.uk

3 5

Reposted by Richard Gilham

GW4 Alliance @gw4alliance.bsky.social · Jul 21

Last week, #GW4 joined a special event at the National Composites Centre to celebrate the launch of Isambard-AI, the UK’s fastest supercomputer. 💻

Developed by @bristoluni.bsky.social w/ #HPE and #NVIDIA, this extraordinary facility will supercharge the UK’s research capabilities. 🚀🔬

The image shows Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, Director of the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, explaining some of the components of Isambard-AI.

The image shows the Isambard-AI sign, with the logos of the University of Bristol, the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, UKRI, HPE, NVIDIA, arm, the NCC and DSIT.

The image shows the exterior of the National Composites Centre.

1 3 4

Reposted by Richard Gilham

Ohmbudsman @ohmbudsman.com · Jul 18

🖥️ UK’s Isambard-AI supercomputer goes live.
Supports AI, NHS, and climate work.
🔗 bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67296381
#Supercomputing #AI #UK

Bristol University to receive £225m to create UK's new supercomputer

Isambard AI will be 10 times more powerful than the UK's current fastest supercomputer.

bbc.co.uk

1 2 1

Reposted by Richard Gilham

University of Bristol @bristoluni.bsky.social · Jul 17

🚀 The UK’s most powerful AI supercomputer, Isambard-AI, is now live in Bristol. Officially launched at the NCC today by Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle, it can complete 80 years of human work in one second. A new era for research begins🔬
➡️ brnw.ch/21wUdXk

5 10

Reposted by Richard Gilham

Drew Jolly @amjolly.bsky.social · Jul 17

Isambard-AI Now Fully Operational, Supporting Cancer Research and AI Security
ow.ly/ncsf50WrnMI #NVIDIA #HPC #HPCwire

Isambard-AI Now Fully Operational, Supporting Cancer Research and AI Security

July 17, 2025 — Faster, more accurate cancer diagnoses and new clean-energy innovations are some of the key breakthroughs which are now closer to reality as the UK’s most powerful […]

ow.ly

5 10

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jun 25

Enjoyed the read, thank you. Just the right amount of 'opinion' too for my taste.

Not unmasking @hpcguru.bsky.social is a miss though. Surely someone knows...

1

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jun 10

Great to see the news about Isambard-AI starting to spread
www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/u...

One should only appear on @theregister.com three times in one's career. Once in On Call, once in Who, me? and once in BOFH. Thankfully, I don't think this counts!

UK's Isambard-AI super powers up as government goes AI crazy

: Brace yourselves Britain, PM Keir Starmer's challenged his teams: 'show me how they can use AI'

www.theregister.com

1

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jun 2

On rails this week. 335 miles (and 56 chains) today ready for a talk at #Durham #HPC days.

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Mar 18

Really interesting being on a panel at #AIUK today discussing sustainability in #AI #supercompuing

Must have been important, I wore a jacket and everything

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Mar 16

A mega-busy March continues... Next stop #AIUK!

Looking forward to learning loads and sitting on a panel discussing sustainability in #AI

1

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Mar 6

Conference organisation is at fever pitch... Everyone keeps sending me reasonable and pertinent work messages, and all I want right now is to go out and grab a pasty.

(for those not resident in SW England, you may not understand the importance of pasties in the diet)

1

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Mar 6

B only for me. L is being useful at the moment.

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Mar 5

Last minute remote registration for an event I've been organising...

Isambard Day 2025 | 11th & 12th March
Two days of #AI & #HPC discussions with sessions on LLMs, AI in healthcare, physics simulations & more.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/isambard-d...
Please note, remote participation is viewing only.

Isambard Day '25

Isambard Day 2025 (ID25), celebrating the remarkable achievements of the Isambard supercomputers and exploring the opportunities ahead.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Feb 25

ECMWF going operational with AI forecasts is a big deal IMO. Their next steps will be super interesting too!

Going operational with a weather model takes huge effort and verification even when you're not changing the fundamental modelling approach everyone's been using for 50-odd years.

ECMWF @ecmwf.int · Feb 25

We have taken our Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS) into operations today to run side by side with our physics-based weather forecasts. The #AIFS outperforms traditional models for many measures, at a fraction of energy use. ➡️ www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...
#AI #MachineLearning

Background of world map with grid overlaid. Text: "AIFS operational"

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 30

Amazing opportunity!

Where was Larry @number10cat.bsky.social?

1

Reposted by Richard Gilham

Emily Coles @e-coles.bsky.social · Jan 28

Insightful interview with the father of Isambard-AI, Simon McIntosh-Smith @simonmcs.bsky.social 👏🏻

#hpc #ai #aioap

@emmamrose.bsky.social @rjjgilham.bsky.social

Building Isambard-AI: 30 years and a final sprint – The Bristol Mix

the-bristol-mix.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

2 5

Reposted by Richard Gilham

Emily Coles @e-coles.bsky.social · Jan 28

A world changing supercomputer? Yes please 🙋‍♀️

#hpc #ai

@emmamrose.bsky.social
@simonmcs.bsky.social
@rjjgilham.bsky.social

AI supercomputer being used to develop vaccines for Alzheimer's

Waste energy from the supercomputer could one day heat nearby homes in north Bristol.

www.bbc.co.uk

1 2

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 16

To be fair, a walk like that with a sidekick makes a million tech problems pale into insignificance.

This old fart was 11 yesterday and be best listener I’ve ever met. His name is SamDog

1 1

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 16

Interesting crop of replies, thanks. Certainly resonates with the users we presently have.

Is it OK to implement fair-share punishments when user's tickets are solved by reference to existing documentation?

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 15

This week, I'm thinking a lot about User Experience for #HPC. How can I make users 'productive' and 'happy'?

Imagine I had a magic wand. What would you wish for?

12 3 5

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 14

Want to use the Isambard-AI or Dawn #AI #supercomputer?
AIRR Expression of Interest to use UK large scale compute is finally out!

engagementhub.ukri.org/epsrc-resear...

The call is aiming broader than just universities so definitely worth a click.

AIRR Expression of Interest to use UK large scale compute - UK Research and Innovation - Citizen Space

Find and participate in activities run by UK Research and Innovation

engagementhub.ukri.org

2

Reposted by Richard Gilham

HPC Guru @hpcguru.bsky.social · Jan 13

Under the U.K.’s “AI Opportunities Action Plan,” the government has set itself an ambitious goal of increasing the country’s data center capacity by as much as 20-fold by the end of the decade

siliconangle.com/2025/01/12/u...

#AI #HPC

U.K. PM Keir Starmer to announce new plans to transform the country into an 'AI superpower' - SiliconANGLE

siliconangle.com

3 5 11

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 8

I'd love to see the actual top500 to see where the compute really goes, other than these cloudy types of course :-)

Richard Gilham @rjjgilham.bsky.social · Jan 8

They'll carry on obsessing about #Top500 anyway?

Saying that, UK academia seems to be showing a slight (and welcome) trend away from fixed-term contracts for RSEs and folk that enable #HPC. A recognition of the value of 'corporate memory'?

1 1