Computing Power Play

The U is building a $50 million AI supercomputer to accelerate breakthroughs in cancer, mental health, Alzheimer’s, and other research. The university will partner with NVIDIA and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to increase computing capacity 3.5-fold—joining only Oregon State and the University of Florida with comparable AI infrastructure nationwide. 

 The payoff could be significant. AI can process massive datasets far faster than traditional methods, potentially shortening the timeline for identifying promising treatments and getting them to patients.

The Huntsman Family Foundation along with Brynn and Peter Huntsman are providing a lead philanthropic gift to launch the project. David Huntsman, president of the Huntsman Family Foundation, says that investing in AI is consistent with his family’s history of philanthropy and would “carry on the legacy of supporting innovative solutions that help relieve human suffering.”

“This AI initiative will accelerate world-class cancer research that enhances capabilities in ways we hardly imagined just a few years ago,” says Peter Huntsman, Huntsman Cancer Foundation CEO and chairman.

Mental health research will also see major investment. Christena Huntsman Durham, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation CEO, noted that as the institute opens its new state-of-the-art 185,000-square-foot Translational Research Building, the technology will help “move even faster to get help to those who need it most.”

 The infrastructure will be available to researchers, students, and entrepreneurs across Utah’s higher education system through two facilities—one in Salt Lake City and another elsewhere in the state. The university plans to seek remaining funds from the State of Utah and other sources.

“Our goal is to make the state awash in computing power,” says U President Taylor Randall HBA’90, “driving research to find new cures and igniting Utah’s entrepreneurial spirit.”