Iran unveils its new supercomputer
It will be used to develop and analyze artificial intelligence technologies, image and traffic processing, big data and more. The information and communications technology minister said that work has already started on the next computer, which will be even more powerful
Mandi Kogosowski
| 20/05/2021
The new Iranian supercomputer. Photo from the website of state-run Mehr news agency
Iran unveiled its new supercomputer, its most powerful one so far, which was developed by Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. The university developed the computer in cooperation with Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, which supplied half the budget of one trillion riyals ($4.5 million), while the Science Ministry and the scientific division of the presidential office bore the rest of the costs.
Iranian news agencies reported that the computer was entirely designed and built by a team of Iranian engineers that also developed the country's first supercomputer about a decade ago, although part of the hardware was imported. According to Data Center Dynamics, a British company that covers and analyzes the data field, Iran could only acquire specific components like microprocessors on the black market due to American sanctions, just like some of the equipment used in Bitcoin-mining facilities in Iran.
The Al-Jazeera website reported that the new supercomputer will offer big data analysis services for a variety of state-run and private scientific research, and will be used for development and analysis of artificial intelligence technologies, image processing, crunching traffic and weather data, and for cloud hosting for local private companies, among others.
The computer is named "Simorgh" after a Persian mythological bird. The state-run Mehr news agency said that the bird is gigantic, female and completely benevolent, and that the choice of the name symbolizes the connection between Iran's past and its dreams for the future. Iran's information and communications technology minister, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, tweeted that work on the next supercomputer, named Maryam after the late Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, has already started, and that the computer will have 100 times the capacity of Simorgh. Regarding Simorgh, it was claimed that it is 100 times more powerful than its predecessor.
It will be used to develop and analyze artificial intelligence technologies, image and traffic processing, big data and more. The information and communications technology minister said that work has already started on the next computer, which will be even more powerful
The new Iranian supercomputer. Photo from the website of state-run Mehr news agency
Iran unveiled its new supercomputer, its most powerful one so far, which was developed by Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. The university developed the computer in cooperation with Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, which supplied half the budget of one trillion riyals ($4.5 million), while the Science Ministry and the scientific division of the presidential office bore the rest of the costs.
Iranian news agencies reported that the computer was entirely designed and built by a team of Iranian engineers that also developed the country's first supercomputer about a decade ago, although part of the hardware was imported. According to Data Center Dynamics, a British company that covers and analyzes the data field, Iran could only acquire specific components like microprocessors on the black market due to American sanctions, just like some of the equipment used in Bitcoin-mining facilities in Iran.
The Al-Jazeera website reported that the new supercomputer will offer big data analysis services for a variety of state-run and private scientific research, and will be used for development and analysis of artificial intelligence technologies, image processing, crunching traffic and weather data, and for cloud hosting for local private companies, among others.
The computer is named "Simorgh" after a Persian mythological bird. The state-run Mehr news agency said that the bird is gigantic, female and completely benevolent, and that the choice of the name symbolizes the connection between Iran's past and its dreams for the future. Iran's information and communications technology minister, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, tweeted that work on the next supercomputer, named Maryam after the late Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, has already started, and that the computer will have 100 times the capacity of Simorgh. Regarding Simorgh, it was claimed that it is 100 times more powerful than its predecessor.
