The system, designed by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and in collaboration with the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is the first in Europe to exceed 1 quintillion calculations per second (1 ExaFLOP/s). This marks a major technological milestone, the result of years of research and development funded by Germany and Europe, carried out in close collaboration with German, European, and international partners of the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

The new JUPITER supercomputer was inaugurated on September 5th 2025 by Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär.

Minister Bär said:

"The inauguration of the JUPITER supercomputer is a milestone for technological excellence and sovereignty in Germany and Europe. The fact that Europe's fastest supercomputer and the fourth fastest in the world is located here is a sign of our country's innovative strength."

Europe's leap into the exascale future

As the fastest supercomputer in Europe and the fourth fastest in the world, JUPITER marks a new era of high-performance computing for the continent. JUPITER's enormous computing power enables the training and application of the largest AI models, as well as the calculation of scientific simulations with unprecedented complexity and depth of detail. At its core is the JUPITER Booster equipped with around 24,000 chips. JUPITER will enable groundbreaking advances in climate, energy, medical, and materials research.

JUPITER was built in record time, with construction starting in December 2023. Europe's first exascale computer was completed in less than two years, housed in a purpose-built, innovative facility – the modular data centre.

JUPITER is funded jointly, with half of its funding being provided by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a quarter coming from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), and a quarter from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW NRW).

Energy-efficient infrastructure

JUPITER is also setting new standards in terms of energy efficiency. According to the latest TOP500 list, JUPITER is the most energy-efficient exascale system among the five fastest supercomputers in the world. In addition the supercomputer's highly efficient warm-water cooling system is also designed to reuse the heat it generates during operation to heat buildings. For this purpose, it will be integrated into the heating network of the Jülich campus.

JUPITER AI Factory

JUPITER is also the heart of the JUPITER AI Factory (JAIF) currently being developed in Jülich – a central element of the European AI ecosystem. Combined with JAIF, JUPITER will also be used beyond research and the public sector by start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and industry. In this context, an additional module designed specifically for inference applications is being developed. This planned cloud platform will complement the JUPITER infrastructure and enable the fast, efficient use of trained AI models in practical applications.

Further Reading

• BMFTR (05.09.2025): Einweihung des schnellsten europäischen KI-Supercomputers JUPITER (in German)
• Forschungszentrum Jülich (05.09.2025): Grand ceremony marks the launch of the Exascale Supercomputer JUPITER
• European Comission (05.09.2025): Europe enters the exascale supercomputing league with ‘JUPITER'
• EuroHPC (05.09.2025): JUPITER: Launching Europe's Exascale Era