LONDON, March 16 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news:

The UK government isinvesting£45millionfora1.4MWmission-focusedsupercomputer named 'Sunrise', a key first step inestablishingthecountry'sfirst AI Growth Zone atthe UK Atomic Energy Authority's(UKAEA)Culham Campus in Oxfordshire.

As announced in the Fusion Strategy, Sunriseis targetedfor operationinJunethis yearandisprimedto bethe world'smost powerfulAI supercomputerdedicated tofusion energy.

Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ),Sunrisewilltacklekeyfusionenergychallengesin areas such asplasma turbulence,materialsdevelopmentandtritiumfuel breeding,while deliveringspillover benefits to other clean energytechnologiesandthe UK's broadernet zeroambitions.

SunrisewillalsostrengthenessentialAIcapabilitiesat CulhamCampusandacrossthe UK'shigh-performance computinglandscape,contributingto thegovernment'sAI Opportunities Action Planand AIforScienceStrategy.

Sunrise will see AMD, DESNZ, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Dell Technologies, Intel, UKAEA, the University of Cambridge, and WEKA working together.

Itwill deliver up to6.76Exaflops ofAI-accelerated modelling,enablinghigh-fidelity simulations andthecreation ofdigital twinsforcomplex systems.

Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear,said:

We can be proud that Britain will lead the way on research,innovationand skills for a future of limitless fusion energy.

By backing our fusion industry, we are not only securing our future energy independence, but from innovation and research to engineers, we are also providing the skilled clean energy jobs of the future for British people.

DrRob Akers,UKAEA'sDirector forComputing Programmes, said:

UKAEA is taking lessons from the Apollo programme: we learn fastest when we cantest, iterate, and improve safely in the virtual world before we commit to our real-world mission.Sunrisewill bring that capability to fusion by combining high-fidelity simulation with physics-informed AI to develop predictive digital twins that reduce the cost, risk and time of learning that would otherwise require expensive and time-consuming physical testing.

UKAEA is proud to be working with such a pioneering group of partners to harness AI andhigh-performance computingat scale to support the UK's fusion roadmap and Net Zero mission.

Dr Paul Calleja, Director of the Cambridge Research Computing Service,said:

Cambridge is proud to be working with UKAEA, Dell,AMDandStackHPC,a UK AI software SME,to co-design, deliver andoperateSunrisethe UK's latest GPU accelerated scientific AI supercomputer.Sunrisebuilds on our long-established collaboration with UKAEA alsoleveragingCambridge's leadership class national supercomputing and sovereign AI portfolio.Sunriseis an important first step in the UK's bold vision to strengthen its sovereign scientific computing capability, accelerate fusion research, and lay the foundations for the Culham AI Growth Zone.

Thomas Zacharia, SVP, Strategy and Development, Public Sector, AMD, said:

Fusion research pushes the limits of science and computing, demanding massive simulation, complexmodellingand advanced AI to accelerate progress.

With Sunrise, the UK will have a powerful new capability torapidly and accurately simulate plasma behaviour and fusion conditions, helping researchers advance the development of stable,efficientand economicallyviablefusion energy. Sunrise brings together AMD EPYC processors and AMD Instinct GPU acceleration, purpose-built on the Dell PowerEdge platform, to deliver breakthrough AI and high-performance computing for the UK fusion community and supporting the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero as it moves fusion from research toward practical impact.

Tariq Hussain, UK Head of Public Sector, Dell Technologies,said:

Sunrise is a bold step in advancing fusion energy and AI innovation, made possible through close collaboration and shared ambition. At Dell Technologies, we're helping turn this vision into reality with advanced AI and storage solutions that enable the UK to tackle complex challenges and accelerate a sustainable energy future.

SimonWilyman- GM UK/I & Northern Europe, Intel Corporation,said:

There are grand milestones in the evolution of our civilization, and the commercialization of fusion power is set to be one of them. Intel is delighted to partner with organizations such as UKAEA to support this ambitious endeavour. As part of the first AI Growth Zone, the Sunrise supercomputer strengthens the UK's position as a global innovation hub. By combining advanced AI capabilities and high memory bandwidth with fusion research, Intel is creating the computational foundation necessary to unlock sustainable energy and improve lives worldwide.

LiranZvibel, Co-Founder & CEO, WEKA, said:

Building a supercomputer to simultaneously advance fusion energy and grow an AI-native economy is one of the most valuable scientific investments a nation can make, and Sunrise delivers on exactly that. WEKA is proud to partner with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to ensure Sunrise has the storage performance it needs to move at top speed from scientific discovery to real-world impact.

Sunrisewillbe used to addressreal-world challengesfroma wide range ofUK fusion programmestodrive critical advancementsfortheLIBRTI(Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation)programme,whichisdevelopingtritium fuel-cycle technologies for self-sufficiency infuturefusion operations, andforSTEP Fusion, theUK's flagshipinitiative todemonstratefusion energy in the 2040s.

In2023,Dell Technologies, Intel, the University ofCambridgeand UKAEAshared plans tousesupercomputers and AI toadvance the development of the UK's prototype fusion power plantdesign capabilitiesthrough the'Industrial Metaverse'.

In January 2026, £36 millionof government investmentwas injectedinto theCambridgesupercomputing centre. Thesupercomputers willsupport modern AI workloadsand simulationdemandtoturnbreakthroughresearch into practical applications.

Sunrise: Inside the UK's New AI Supercomputer Accelerating the Future of Fusion Energy

Download The Sunrise supercomputer key facts (PDF, 762 KB, 1 page)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.