Nvidia, SKT, Rebellions to jointly establish heterogeneous computing system for AI
Participants visit booths at the AI Day Seoul event organized by the U.S. chip giant Nvidia in southern Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Nvidia, SK Telecom and domestic artificial intelligence (AI) chip startup Rebellions agreed Monday to combine their respective strengths to establish a heterogeneous computing system, Seoul's science ministry said.
Under the trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU), the companies will cooperate in the establishment of a heterogeneous AI computing system connecting Nvidia's graphic processing units (GPUs) with neural processing units (NPUs) designed by Rebellions that will be used in the building of SK Telecom AI data centers. The tie-up will be based on the U.S. chipmaker's NVLink Fusion program, the ministry added.
The NVLink Fusion program allows hyperscalers and custom chip designers to integrate their own AI processors directly into Nvidia's rack-scale infrastructure.
The MOU was signed on the margins of AI Day Seoul, a tech event hosted by Nvidia that kicked off its two-day run in southern Seoul.
The agreement to connect locally produced NPUs to Nvidia's architecture will help expand the scope of application for domestic advanced semiconductors. It will also provide an opportunity for local companies to verify their technologies in the global market, the science ministry explained.
The science ministry vowed to support local NPU developers to ensure such collaboration could extend beyond Rebellions to other local NPU developers, and eventually help develop Korea's advanced-chip ecosystem.