GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida is set to launch the fourth-generation version of its HiPerGator supercomputer, which will feature one of the most advanced AI computing systems in U.S. higher education. An early-access phase for half of the new system is scheduled to begin in June 2025, with full operational deployment expected by the fall semester.
The upgrade approved by the UF Board of Trustees in late 2024 marks a significant enhancement of the university’s computing capabilities. The upgraded HiPerGator will be powered by NVIDIA’s new Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) and will be the first NVIDIA DGX B200 SuperPOD supercomputer installed at a university in the United States. This system will include 63 DGX B200 compute nodes, which will enhance the performance of AI model training and inference.
University officials state that the new system will support a wide range of research initiatives, including environmental modeling, medical research, and projects such as Florida’s “Digital Twin” initiative and coastal resilience planning.
Elias G. Eldayrie, UF’s vice president and chief information officer, said the system reflects the university’s growing role in AI development. “We are shaping how AI is used,” Eldayrie said, “and the enhanced capabilities of HiPerGator 4th Gen will enable our faculty and researchers to usher in a new era of innovation.”
Installation of the system began earlier this year, with equipment delivered by NVIDIA, whose co-founder Chris Malachowsky is a UF alumnus. The deployment is being completed in partnership with technology firm Mark III and UF Information Technology.
HiPerGator is already one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in the U.S., ranking No. 77 globally on the TOP500 list of supercomputing systems. According to UF, more than 8,000 users accessed the system last year, processing 33 million research requests.
The new system will continue the evolution of the HiPerGator platform, which has undergone multiple upgrades since its launch in 2013. University leaders say the latest version will offer up to three times the AI training speed and 15 times the inference performance compared to previous versions using Hopper GPUs.
Erik Deumens, director of UFIT Research Computing, said the Blackwell GPUs are designed to support “the next wave of innovation in AI,” including models capable of more complex reasoning.
The supercomputer also powers UF’s Navigator AI platform, launched in 2024, which offers students and faculty access to leading generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Llama, Gemini, Claude, and Diffusion.
Since 2020, the university has hired over 100 AI-focused faculty and integrated AI coursework into disciplines across campus. UF’s AI-centered educational initiatives have become a model for other institutions, and university officials report more than 1,000 researchers are now using HiPerGator for their projects.
UF reports its research enterprise has an annual impact exceeding $1.26 billion, positioning the university as a national leader in both research productivity and AI integration.
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