Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is building an expensive new AI GPU cluster for medical research

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s instauration is backing the operation of a monolithic computing strategy for aesculapian research. It’ll beryllium made up of much than 1,000 GPUs. And these aren’t conscionable immoderate graphics paper — they’re top-of-the-line H100 GPUs that are highly sought aft for AI-focused servers.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is making truly bold claims astir what it hopes this computing strategy volition beryllium capable to do. A press release claims the computing strategy “will pb to groundbreaking caller discoveries that could assistance cure, prevent, oregon negociate each diseases by the extremity of this century.”

The purpose is to springiness researchers entree to generative AI to survey steadfast and diseased cells. Using predictive models of quality cells tin assistance researchers amended recognize however the assemblage responds to diseases oregon caller medicines. It’s similar moving a “virtual cell” done antithetic simulations to spot what mightiness happen, arsenic CZI co-founders Chan and her hubby Zuckerberg enactment it successful an essay successful MIT Technology Review.

“AI models could foretell however an immune compartment responds to an infection, what happens astatine the cellular level erstwhile a kid is calved with a uncommon disease, oregon adjacent however a patient’s assemblage volition respond to a caller medication,” Chan says successful the property release.

The happening is, these tools tin beryllium truthful costly that they’re retired of scope for galore scientists. That’s what CZI wants to change. The caller GPU clump is expected to powerfulness “openly available” models of quality cells successful bid to velocity up aesculapian probe and promote scientists to enactment collaboratively, CZI says.

To make caller AI models, the CZI-funded computing strategy volition beryllium trained connected existing datasets. That includes information from a Chan Zuckerberg bundle tool that has already cataloged immoderate 50 cardinal unsocial cells.

Once completed, the caller computing strategy is expected to beryllium 1 of the biggest AI clusters utilized for nonprofit research. But it inactive won’t beryllium arsenic large arsenic akin systems utilized to make commercialized products successful the backstage sector, according to the MIT Technology Review essay.

CZI’s Biohub Network volition acquisition the GPUs. The “biohubs” bring unneurotic antithetic tech and subject institutions “with the extremity of pursuing expansive technological challenges connected a 10- to 15-year clip horizon,” according to the network. A squad astatine the San Francisco biohub is tasked with mounting up the caller computing system.