May 30 - Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) and Dell Technologies (DELL, Financial) are teaming up to build the Department of Energy's next-generation supercomputer, Doudna.
Doudna will pair Nvidia's latest “Vera Rubin” chips with Dell's liquid-cooled servers to support roughly 11,000 researchers nationwide.
The system is designed to merge simulation, data, and artificial intelligence on a single platform, enabling scientists to stream data and receive real-time insights. It aims to accelerate work in fusion energy, materials science, drug discovery, space data processing and quantum workflows.
Officials say Doudna will deliver about ten times the output of its predecessor, Perlmutter, while consuming only two to three times more power.
Nvidia's role underscores its importance to U.S. science initiatives amid ongoing export restrictions to China. CEO Jensen Huang lauded recent U.S. efforts to boost domestic chip manufacturing but noted that export curbs have cost the company billions. Nvidia also faces scrutiny over plans for a Shanghai R&D facility, with lawmakers raising national security concerns.
