Shanghai, January 24, 2022 – SenseTime, an artificial intelligence software company, today announced that SenseTime's Artificial Intelligence Computing Center ("SenseTime" or SenseTime) will start operations today. SenseTime AIDCs are an open, large-scale, low-carbon advanced computing infrastructure, and an important computing power base for SenseCore's AI devices, designed with a peak computing power of up to 3740 Petaflops (1 Petaflop is equal to 100 quadrillion floating-point operations per second), which will become one of the largest AI computing centers in Asia. AIDC will not only accelerate the pace of innovation at SenseTime, but also nurture an open and rapidly evolving ecosystem, lower barriers to entry for large-scale AI applications in various industries, and continuously expand the boundaries of AI industrialization.
As the first super-large artificial intelligence computing center in East China, SenseTime WILL actively respond to Shanghai's goal of building an internationally influential "artificial intelligence highland" during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, carrying the heavy responsibility of carrying out large-scale artificial intelligence technology research and development and industrialization in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, and providing surging computing momentum for industrial digital transformation, major scientific research breakthroughs and smart city construction. On the same day, SenseTime AID was awarded the title of "Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Integration Empowerment Center" by shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, which will further exert its own advantages and help the construction of artificial intelligence "Shanghai Highland". In addition, SenseTime has signed strategic cooperation with a number of institutions and enterprises to jointly promote the construction of an AIDC-based ecosystem.
Xu Li, Chairman and CEO of SenseTime, said, "The launch and operation of SenseTime's ARTIFICIAL Intelligence Computing Center is an important achievement of our long-term layout in the field of AI infrastructure, which will not only build a smart base for AI to deeply empower digital transformation in the fields of economy, life and governance, promote the sustainable development of social productivity, but also accelerate the next generation of general artificial intelligence technology, promote the innovation of artificial intelligence domestic computing chips, and form a symbiotic and co-prosperity AI ecosystem." We are committed to building the world's premier artificial intelligence computing center, with the continuous improvement of the comprehensive service capabilities of the intelligent computing center, in the future, SenseTime will continue to export inclusive artificial intelligence computing power to the society and lead the development of the artificial intelligence industry. ”
Since its inception, SenseTime has deeply realized the strategic role of ultra-large-scale computing power in promoting AI technology innovation, and has long been deeply involved in the construction of computing power infrastructure, and has established 23 AI supercomputing clusters in major regional markets. In April 2018, SenseTime conducted pre-research of AIDC without any reference case experience and experimental site conditions, and officially started construction in July 2020. After AIDC starts operations, it will further expand SenseTime's AI supercomputing scale, so that SenseTime's final capacity exceeds 4910 Petaflops per second.
Four advantages, for SenseTime AI device to build an innovative base
AIDC is an important part and physical bearer of the computing infrastructure layer in SenseCore's AI appliance. As a general AI infrastructure built by SenseTime, SenseCore's AI device organically integrates the computing infrastructure, deep learning platform and model layer to achieve batch algorithm model production, deployment and iterative upgrade. After AIDC starts operations, it will build an innovative base for SenseTime's AI large-scale devices with multiple leading advantages such as ultra-large-scale flexible computing power, low computing cost, high security, and low network latency, and drive the upgrading of AI production capacity with higher efficiency and lower cost.
Large-scale elastic computing power, supporting oversized parameter universal large model training. AIDC can provide large-scale elastic computing power and complete training of 1,000 billion parametric models. Through the integration of massive computing resources, AIDC will make AI large devices like assembly line factories, realize the underlying abstraction of algorithm models of different scenarios, create a general-purpose service platform with a modular platform suite, and achieve large-scale coverage of new scenarios at low marginal cost. With the breakthrough of computing power, AIDC will also create a new scientific research paradigm for major basic scientific research in many fields such as protein folding.
Low computing power application costs, promote domestic smart chip ecological innovation. AIDC can provide a large-scale application environment for domestic smart chips and form a more cost-effective AI computing power service. Through the "Artificial Intelligence Computing Power Industry Ecological Alliance" led by SenseTime, AIDC will accelerate the adaptation and integration of domestic smart chips, and bring supporting support from the scene demand to the whole chain of software value ecology, build systematic support for the innovation of domestic smart chips, accelerate the formation of an artificial intelligence domestic computing power ecological foundation, and achieve "supporting a number of chip companies, cultivating a software ecology, and prospering a group of application development".
Leading the way in high security performance for multi-layered protection from storage to compute. AIDC has industry-leading high security performance, with a highly complete privacy and data protection program. Through the independent physical computer room, AIDC can ensure complete physical isolation, with the help of privacy and secure computing technology, it can provide different customers with different levels of resource isolation from computing, storage to networking. SenseTime is also certified to ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 29151 Information Security Management System, and continues to provide trusted security services that meet global standards.
Low network latency design, providing low-cost high-quality network services. AIDC is located in Lingang, Shanghai, and has the advantages of fast access and low latency for shanghai and Yangtze River Delta businesses. At present, AIDC has access to the National (Shanghai) New Internet Exchange Center, as one of the core operating entities and initiators of the center, SenseTime will provide low-cost, high-quality network services and AI computing power services for the industry through AIDC. At the same time, thanks to the cluster network design of AIDC, the high-frequency interaction efficiency of the training data layer can be further improved through the high-speed communication network based on RDMA technology.
Accelerate the digital transformation of the whole industry of industry, scientific research and urban management
AIDC launched operation, which will further improve the model production efficiency of SenseCore's SenseCore AI device, support the continuous innovation of SenseTime's four major software platforms of smart business, smart city, smart life, and smart car, and cutting-edge research in the fields of ultra-large-scale cluster parallel training and protein folding research. SenseTime will also open the technical capabilities of SenseTime's AI large devices to partners through AIDC, providing AIaaS cloud services for industry, scientific research and urban management, comprehensively improving AI productivity and accelerating the digital transformation of the entire industry.
For the industry, SenseTime AIDC will be committed to building an AI infrastructure for the digital transformation of the whole industry, and helping all walks of life to reduce costs and increase efficiency through SenseTime's AI device. Without the need for deep expertise and huge capital investment, customers can carry out automated AI model production and deployment through SenseTime's AI large device, quickly opening up the long-tail needs of various vertical industries and improving the value chain.
Facing scientific research, AIDC will be committed to building a first-class scientific research and innovation service base and artificial intelligence empowerment platform in China, helping Shanghai to build a science and technology innovation center with global influence. Relying on massive computing power resources, cluster scheduling advantages, and a complete AI algorithm tool chain, it supports and serves the national major scientific and technological infrastructure and scientific research and innovation entities in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region. At present, SenseTime AIDC has reached a cooperation intention with scientific research institutions and universities such as the National Protein Science Center (Shanghai), making full use of artificial intelligence technology to drive traditional scientific research into a new development model.
For urban management, SenseTime will empower city managers through AIDC and SenseTime's Ark City Open Platform, support the construction of the "one network unified management" system, and accelerate the process of intelligent urban governance. By comprehensively solving the demand problem of long-tail application in the process of urban governance, it will provide a strong guarantee for the transformation of a new generation of smart cities to an intensive intelligent center construction and operation model.
Not only that, SenseTime also actively promotes cutting-edge energy-saving technologies and design methods to meet the demand for massive computing power while reducing data center energy consumption and promoting the construction of green and low-carbon data centers. At present, SenseTime has taken a variety of energy optimization measures for AIDC from the energy, technology and management levels, and the average annual PUE has been optimized to 1.28, making its power consumption about 10% lower than the average of other data centers in China. After AIDC is fully operational, SenseTime's overall unit added value in Shanghai consumes 0.141-0.143, far better than the average level of various industries, promoting sustainable development and helping to achieve the goal of "double carbon".
SenseTime AIDC is the smart foundation built for digital transformation and the driving force behind the development of the digital economy. The Artificial Intelligence Computing Power Industry Ecosystem Alliance, jointly initiated by SenseTime and relevant universities, enterprises, professional institutions and other industry partners, also discussed the supply and demand of computing power in the intelligent computing industry, as well as the challenges and coping strategies faced by the industry at the plenary conference on the same day. At the meeting, the alliance also launched the "Yangtze River Delta Artificial Intelligence Computing Power Development Report" to provide a reference for the development of artificial intelligence computing power in the Yangtze River Delta to create a first-class artificial intelligence computing power industry ecology.
As a new generation of super-large-scale AI general infrastructure, AIDC's successful start of operation is of great strategic significance for grasping the trend of new generation of artificial intelligence technology innovation and application innovation, and to meet a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change. SenseTime will continue to expand the computing power of AIDC and plans to invest in the establishment of AIDCs in more major regional markets to help more industry customers accelerate their digital transformation and upgrading. SenseTime AIDC will take Shanghai as the starting point, work with upstream and downstream partners in the industry, build a nationwide AI computing power ecosystem, continue to promote the innovation and comprehensive application of AI in the whole industry, and move forward towards the goal of "AI empowering hundreds of industries".