NVIDIA donates DGX GB300 supercomputer to US Navy`s Naval Postgraduate School

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, signs the exterior panel of the NVIDIA DGX GB300 AI supercomputer at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, CaliforniaPetty Officer 3rd Class Abreen Padeken/NPS Chip maker NVIDIA has donated its latest artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, as the latter looks to advance its leadership through education and research. The donation is part of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for collaborative AI research between the two organizations signed in December 2024. Established in 1909, the NPS is a university that trains military candidates to become leaders in warfare and think critically to solve and develop mission-ready solutions for the future. Long before AI became a point of mainstream discussions, the NPS has been in involved in using computational sciences for military applications. In 1953, the military university acquired an electronic digital computer and followed it up with the receipt of the first-ever Control Data Corp.’s 1604, the world’s first all-solid-state supercomputer in 1960. “NPS has a long tradition of pioneering advances in computing that have served our Navy and the nation well,” said Peter Denning, professor emeritus at NPS. “Prior to the arrival of Seymour Cray’s first transistor-based electronic supercomputer (the 1604), NPS hosted a copy of Vannevar Bush’s Differential Analyzer, perhaps the most powerful analog computer of its day.” “NVIDIA’s collaboration continues that tradition, creating new opportunities for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” added Denning. NVIDIA donated the DGX GB300, which pairs 36 NVIDIA Grace CPUs with 72 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs, allowing large volumes of workflow to occur in parallel. Installed with the high-performance computing (HPC) environment at NPS. The DGX GB300 is not an independent data center; rather, it integrates fully with existing computing power, storage, networking, and software, making it a scalable platform. The GBX300 is well suited for large AI applications where speed and scale are essential and will allow faculty and students at NPS to train models, analyze data, and explore problems that could not be done before. “As this capability matures, it will allow student and faculty researchers at NPS to identify patterns faster, evaluate alternatives more rapidly, and generate deeper insights,” said Trenton Hancock, NPS Chief Information Officer. “The real value is accelerating the transformation of data into operationally relevant effects, reducing the time required to learn, adapt, and make better decisions in support of naval forces.” Education for technology leadership Warfare has seen dramatic changes in recent years, with the complexity of decisions increasing at unprecedented rates and new challenges emerging rapidly. “The changing character of warfare impacts the entire spectrum of conflict,” explained Samuel J. Paparo, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command in a press release. “To achieve absolute decision superiority, we must leverage data, compute, and human-machine integration to observe, orient, decide, act, assess, learn and adjust faster than any adversary.” NPS looks to achieve that decision superiority through educating its students, who then go on to take leadership roles in the US military. “AI will be a backbone of America’s defense,” said Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. “By supporting the Naval Postgraduate School and placing one of the world’s most advanced AI supercomputers in the hands of the men and women who defend our Nation, we are empowering them to train on it, build with it, and lead America’s fighting force with the decisive advantages our Sailors, Marines and Joint Force deserve.” Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Ameya is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.