Japan's new supercomputer named fastest in world

The latest supercomputer developed by Japan's state-backed Riken research institute is the world's fastest for computing speed, according to a twice-yearly ranking announced Monday by the U.S.-European TOP500 project, marking the first time in nine years that a Japanese supercomputer has captured the top position. Report informs citing the Kyodo.

The supercomputer, named Fugaku after Mt. Fuji, took the top spot in three other categories that measured performance in computational methods for industrial use, artificial intelligence applications, and big data analytics.

It is the first time that a supercomputer has topped the rankings in the four categories, according to Riken.

The Japanese supercomputer, which was jointly developed with Fujitsu Ltd. at the institute's facility in Kobe, forms a vital foundation for powerful simulations used in scientific research and the development of industrial and military technologies.

"We were able to stand out in all the key specifications for supercomputers, and demonstrate it is the world's highest-performing. We expect it will aid in solving difficult social problems such as the fight against the novel coronavirus," said Satoshi Matsuoka, the institute's computational science center director.

Shinichi Kato, president of Fujitsu IT Products Ltd., also expressed his delight, saying, "I feel delighted and honored to have been involved in creating Fugaku, which has ranked as the world's No.1 (supercomputer)." Fujitsu IT Products, a wholly-owned unit of Fujitsu, was in charge of producing the supercomputer.

Fugaku was picked as the world's No. 1 in June after performing over 415 quadrillion computations per second, around 2.8 times faster than the Summit system developed by the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which secured the top spot in the last ranking in November 2019.