Czech AI Factory will provide users with access to computing capacities optimized for AI, expert support, data services, testing of AI solutions and educational programs. "The real value of Czech AI Factory lies not only in the unique supercomputer capacity, but in people who understand artificial intelligence and the specific sector in which it is to be deployed. We have been building this combination for a long time across industry, healthcare, energy, transport and public administration," said Petr Kadera, Head of the Department of Intelligent Systems for Industry at CTU.
It will allow domestic industry to implement new technologies faster, optimize production and respond to the shortage of qualified workers. "CZAI will enable AI to be connected to real production processes, data and industrial testbeds so that companies can use advanced AI tools without having to build their own extensive infrastructure," added Kadera. However, it will also focus on use in healthcare. "CZAI will enable faster development of AI models for diagnostics, personalized medicine or research into new drugs," said Jiří Vondrášek, head of the Bioinformatics group at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. However, there are many more possibilities for using the center, for example in optimizing transport. "It will help create AI solutions for logistics, traffic management and intelligent mobility systems," specified Petr Šimoník, guarantor for the area of transport and mobility of the future from VŠB-TUO. It will also find use in managing energy networks. "Today, the energy sector needs more accurate predictions, more effective management and better work with data," said Stanislav Mišák, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Technologies at VŠB-TUO. It will also be used in public administration and in ensuring cybersecurity. Voicebot for the emergency line
At the launch of the project, an AI voicebot for the 112 emergency line was demonstrated. The system can automatically communicate with the caller, obtain basic information about the emergency and pass it on to the operators of the integrated rescue system. The technology has already been tested in the emergency line environment. The CZAI plans to further develop it, using advanced language models, voice technologies and high-performance computing capacities. “The Czech AI Factory will help to use cutting-edge AI technologies and supercomputing infrastructure to solve real problems in the areas of security, crisis management and public services,” said Jan Černocký, head of the Institute of Computer Graphics and Multimedia, FIT BUT.
New KarolAI
The introduction of artificial intelligence is already decisive for the competitiveness of economies today. In addition to mastering working with it, it also requires enormous computing capacities, and the Czech AI Factory project responds to their lack. The existing Karolina supercomputer was acquired by IT4Innovations at VŠB-TUO five years ago. It achieves a theoretical computing power of 15.7 PFlop/s, which represents 15.7 trillion operations per second. It consists of a universal part with 720 servers and an accelerated part with 72 servers with 576 NVIDIA A100 GPU accelerators.
Last September, the center added the first quantum computer in the Czech Republic to it. Quantum computers can solve tasks that would be too time-consuming for classical computers, but they cannot solve some other tasks efficiently, which is why both types of computers are interconnected. “Parts of the calculations that are more suitable for classical computers run there, and those that are more suitable for quantum ones are shifted to quantum computers. And this is also our case, by the way, because we are connecting the Karolina supercomputer with the VLQ quantum computer,” said Vít Vondrák, director of the national supercomputer center.
To increase performance, the center will purchase a new KarolAIna supercomputer. According to earlier information, it was to be built on approximately 340 state-of-the-art AI chips, but specific parameters cannot now be specified in more detail. “This cannot be said in advance. The KarolAIna supercomputer will be purchased through a public procurement procedure, which will only require the fulfillment of performance requirements, not the specification of a specific supplier or GPU type,” Vondrák added to Týden.
The development of AI technologies is still very rapid, and therefore the center will first conduct preliminary market consultations. Additional specifications will emerge from them. “The supercomputer will not be purchased until 2027. Until then, we will use our existing supercomputers and also our participation in, for example, the Finnish supercomputer LUMI,” Vondrák added.
The total cost of the Czech AI Factory will reach almost a billion crowns, with roughly half of the funds going to the purchase of the KarolAIna supercomputer and its operation, while the remaining funds will be used to provide services to Czech AI Factory clients. Half of the funding is provided by the pan-European joint venture EuroHPC, and the other half by the Czech Republic through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Connection to the European network
The Czech AI Factory is not an isolated unit; it will closely cooperate with the EuroHPC AI Factories network and other initiatives aimed at supporting the implementation of artificial intelligence in practice. “Thanks to the connection to the European AI Factories network and the EuroHPC JU supercomputers, Czech organizations will gain access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure and the opportunity to participate in building a technologically sovereign and trustworthy European AI,” Vondrák specified.
This will create six new AI Factories in Europe, joining the 13 previously selected ones. They will create an interconnected network of AI centers ready to support innovation across Europe. Each factory will be a place that will offer startups, SMEs and AI researchers support and access to high-performance computing resources optimized for AI.