glennklockwood - Network

Looking past the first half of this (an AI supercomputer has “hundreds or thousands” of GPUs?), it makes sense to onshore Blackwell...

Looking past the first half of this (an AI supercomputer has “hundreds or thousands” of GPUs?), it makes sense to onshore Blackwell manufacturing. They’re hard to make and hard to repair. Shipping every repair to Mexico is risky if failure rates are high.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/what-is-an-ai-supercomputer-and-why-is-trump-talking-about-it-5bb24561

TACC's upcoming leadership supercomputer, Horizon, is at risk due to steep cuts to NSF. Sounds like its fate is locked up in argument...

TACC's upcoming leadership supercomputer, Horizon, is at risk due to steep cuts to NSF. Sounds like its fate is locked up in argument between Congress and the White House.

https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-throws-wrench-nsf-s-support-new-texas-supercomputer

#HPC

OpenAI released a 45-minute video discussing the challenges of training GPT-4.5, and I pulled some notes out of it that I found interesting....

OpenAI released a 45-minute video discussing the challenges of training GPT-4.5, and I pulled some notes out of it that I found interesting. Sharing with others in case they don't want to watch the full 45 minutes of it: https://www.glennklockwood.com/garden/papers/Pre-Training-GPT-4.5

#AI

https://v.cx/2025/04/mastodon-exit-interview has been making its rounds, and it really resonates with how using Mastodon has made me feel....

https://v.cx/2025/04/mastodon-exit-interview has been making its rounds, and it really resonates with how using Mastodon has made me feel. Mastodon feels like IRC felt, whereas Bluesky feels like Twitter felt. They both have their places, but they do not really overlap as their label as "social networks" would imply.

Wow, workshops are now included in the #SC25 technical program registration. This is incredible; workshops are an invaluable place to have...

Wow, workshops are now included in the #SC25 technical program registration. This is incredible; workshops are an invaluable place to have focused, deeply technical discussion and build community with a high concentration of like-minded individuals.

https://sc25.supercomputing.org/2025/04/workshops-now-included-in-technical-program-registration/

#HPC

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders about things like this in the middle of the night - Why are programs in #HPC called...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders about things like this in the middle of the night - Why are programs in #HPC called "codes" and not "code"?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HPC/comments/1jv7i8c/why_are_programs_in_hpc_called_codes_and_not_code/

If the contents of this article are anywhere close to the truth, it’s yet another indication that upstarts in #AI infra are throwing hail...

If the contents of this article are anywhere close to the truth, it’s yet another indication that upstarts in #AI infra are throwing hail marys at huge financial risk. I would’ve thought Oracle would have a steadier hand.

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/pressure-rises-oracle-finish-openai-data-center

“the first six months of construction at the Mount Pleasant site saw $262m in investment, $40m of which was used for concrete...

“the first six months of construction at the Mount Pleasant site saw $262m in investment, $40m of which was used for concrete alone”

Though the above is an unverified number it puts into perspective the scale of HPC/AI investment. Could you imagine DOE or NSF spending $40M on just the concrete underneath their next supercomputer?

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-steps-back-from-data-center-developments-globally-report/

CoreWeave does a great job of taking risk off of both GPU consumers (hyperscale, with uncertain long-term demand) and NVIDIA (by holding...

CoreWeave does a great job of taking risk off of both GPU consumers (hyperscale, with uncertain long-term demand) and NVIDIA (by holding depreciating assets on their books). Why wouldn't people want to work with CoreWeave? They're willing to take slim margins in exchange for holding a ton of risk.
From: @carnage4life
https://mas.to/@carnage4life/114273846924243268

Fighting AI with AI! This time, Cloudflare is sending #AI web scrapers that ignore robots.txt to AI-generated slop to poison them. Sad that...

Fighting AI with AI! This time, Cloudflare is sending #AI web scrapers that ignore robots.txt to AI-generated slop to poison them. Sad that it's come to this, but great demonstration that AI is just a tool that can be used for good or evil.

https://blog.cloudflare.com/ai-labyrinth/

Crusoe just got a $225 million loan to buy more GPUs. Conceptually similar to how US gov sometimes buys supercomputers; for example,...

Crusoe just got a $225 million loan to buy more GPUs. Conceptually similar to how US gov sometimes buys supercomputers; for example, DOE's open-science #HPC systems are financed through lease-to-own brokered by third parties. But the interest rates aren't double digits.

https://crusoe.ai/newsroom/upper90-closes-usd225m-credit-facility-to-crusoe-to-expand-ai-cloud/

Lots of rumors swirling about hyperscalers pulling back on datacenter leases (e.g.,...

Lots of rumors swirling about hyperscalers pulling back on datacenter leases (e.g., https://www.bloomberg.com./news/articles/2025-03-26/microsoft-abandons-more-data-center-projects-td-cowen-says). Think it's a coincidence that these rumors coincide w/ NVIDIA announcing 600 kW racks for 2027?

Oracle to deploy a cluster of over 30,000 AMD MI355X as part of a multi-billion dollar #AI contract. Great to see big investments in...

Oracle to deploy a cluster of over 30,000 AMD MI355X as part of a multi-billion dollar #AI contract. Great to see big investments in competition here.

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/oracle-to-build-cluster-of-30000-amd-mi355x-gpus/

I can't stop reading about CoreWeave's finances. They accidentally bought GPUs overseas with borrowed money that had to remain in...

I can't stop reading about CoreWeave's finances. They accidentally bought GPUs overseas with borrowed money that had to remain in the US, then the lender not only let it slide, but amended the loan terms to allow it in the future.

https://www.ft.com/content/cb94eb68-ccb5-4fb3-b903-0aae17b836dd

I've published some notes I took while at #GTC25 last week. Have a look: https://blog.glennklockwood.com/2025/03/gtc-2025-recap.htmlPart...

I've published some notes I took while at #GTC25 last week. Have a look: https://blog.glennklockwood.com/2025/03/gtc-2025-recap.html

Part of why I write is to foster discussion, and I'd love to hear or read others' takes on the conference!

#AI

After spending last week at GTC25, and I decided to type up my notes similar to my SC and ISC recaps. I still need another day of editing...

After spending last week at GTC25, and I decided to type up my notes similar to my SC and ISC recaps. I still need another day of editing before I will post it on my blog, but here's a sneak peek (with pretty pictures!) for my loyal Mastodon followers: https://www.glennklockwood.com/garden/GTC25-blog-post

1.5 GW of load instantly fell off the grid in Virginia last summer as a result of a blip that triggered sixty DCs to all switch to backup...

1.5 GW of load instantly fell off the grid in Virginia last summer as a result of a blip that triggered sixty DCs to all switch to backup power simultaneously. Wild.

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/virginia-narrowly-avoided-power-cuts-when-60-data-centers-dropped-off-the-grid-at-once/

And here is the silicon photonics switch that was announced at #GTC25. The laser modules slot in along the top and look like familiar...

And here is the silicon photonics switch that was announced at #GTC25. The laser modules slot in along the top and look like familiar transceivers, just without the fibers. Ring resonators modulate the laser light out of the MPOs(?) that connect directly to the switch below the lasers. Wild.

Here is the business end of a proof of concept for NVIDIA’s NVL576 rack, dubbed Kyber, on display at #GTC25. Compute blades in the front,...

Here is the business end of a proof of concept for NVIDIA’s NVL576 rack, dubbed Kyber, on display at #GTC25. Compute blades in the front, NVLink Switch blades in the back, and a midplane. Reminiscent of Cray EX, but much more dense.

A hotel breakfast worthy of #GTC25: Keurig coffee and INNOVATION!

A hotel breakfast worthy of #GTC25: Keurig coffee and INNOVATION!