Europe Advances Digital Sovereignty in HPC and AI with the Launch of the DARE SGA1 Project

The Jülich Supercomputing Centre is part of the European project Digital Autonomy with RISC-V in Europe (DARE) aiming to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Europe Advances Digital Sovereignty in HPC and AI with the Launch of the DARE SGA1 Project

The first phase of the project DARE SGA1 (Specific Grant Agreement 1) spans three years and unites 38 partners from across Europe, targeting the development of next-generation European processors and computing systems, including an optimized software ecosystem, designed for research and industry applications.

Europe has long been dependent on non-European hardware and software solutions for its supercomputing infrastructure. This reliance poses risks to security, economic stability, and technological competitiveness. DARE seeks to reverse this trend by leveraging the open RISC-V ecosystem, and the latest chiplet technology, thereby creating truly European products that will power Europe’s future supercomputers.

Strong European Collaboration - Project Structure

Europe Advances Digital Sovereignty in HPC and AI with the Launch of the DARE SGA1 Project

Key Technological Innovations

At the heart of the DARE project is the development of three RISC-V-based chiplets, each serving a critical function in HPC and AI computing:

  • Vector accelerator (VEC) for high-precision HPC and emerging applications in the HPC-AI convergence domain, led by Openchip
  • AI Processing Unit (AIPU) designed for AI inference acceleration in HPC applications, led by Axelera AI
  • General-purpose processor (GPP) optimized for HPC workloads in European supercomputers, led by Codasip

These chiplets will be developed and taped-out in advanced technology nodes, overcoming the limitations of traditional monolithic chips by offering greater efficiency, scalability, and cost advantages.

A Roadmap for the Future of European HPC

By the end of its first phase, DARE will lay the groundwork for Europe’s first fully European HPC system, fostering technological self-reliance and ensuring that European industry, research, and society at large can benefit from secure, high-performance, and energy-efficient computing solutions.

DARE SGA1 is not just about technology development—it is about defining the roadmap for Europe’s post-exascale supercomputers. The project will pave the way for future generations of supercomputers that are designed, built, and optimized in Europe,  ensuring that Europe remains at the cutting edge of HPC and AI development and use.

In DARE, JSC serves as the lead of the Software Technical Area together with Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). It contributes its expertise in hardware-software co-design, creation of performance-critical libraries, and HPC infrastructure enablement.

The project is coordinated by BSC and funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.

Find more information on the official DARE website.

Full press release: Europe Takes a Major Step Towards Digital Autonomy in HPC and AI with the Launch of DARE SGA1 Project - dare-lab

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Contact at JSC: Andreas Herten

Last Modified: 07.03.2025