By Dominic Chopping


Denmark is establishing a national center for artificial intelligence innovation that will house a new Nvidia AI supercomputer to accelerate research and innovation in areas such as healthcare, life sciences and the green transition.

The center, owned by Novo Nordisk's controlling shareholder the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, will allow Danish researchers from both the public and private sectors to access the supercomputer and work to drive scientific advances, the foundation said.

In collaboration with Nvidia, researchers will also be able to work with expert teams at the chip maker to co-develop pharmaceutical and biotechnology solutions as well as develop quantum computing.

"Groundbreaking scientific discoveries are based on data, and AI has now provided us with an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate research within, for example, human and planetary health," said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Chief Executive of Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Drug discovery, disease diagnosis, and treatment, as well as life-science challenges, are all areas where AI computing power can be deployed and the Nvidia collaboration together with the new center will allow Denmark to pursue large-scale projects in many fields, the foundation added.

The supercomputer will be built by Eviden, the advanced computing unit of France's Atos.

Eviden will deliver, install, and configure the supercomputer--named Gefion--later in 2024 and provide support with the start-up phase.

The center is expected to be ready for pilot projects before the end of the year.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has committed around 600 million Danish kroner ($87.5 million) towards the initial costs of the center while the government-backed Export and Investment Fund of Denmark has contributed DKK100 million.

The foundation has established a public-limited company called the Danish Centre for AI Innovation that will own and operate the supercomputer, with all revenue generated reinvested in the initiative. The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark holds 15% of the company's shares.


Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-19-24 0612ET