NSF Awards Georgia Tech $20M to Build AI-Driven Supercomputer “Nexus”
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $20 million to the Georgia Institute of Technology to lead the development of a powerful new supercomputer named Nexus. Designed to harness artificial intelligence for scientific advancement, Nexus will serve as a national resource for accelerating research and discovery.
According to the NSF’s official announcement, Nexus will operate both as a standalone system and as a gateway to other national computing resources. Its mission is to significantly speed up AI-driven breakthroughs across science and engineering disciplines.
Nexus is expected to play a key role in strengthening U.S. leadership in AI by enhancing research capacity, driving innovation across multiple scientific fields, boosting economic competitiveness, and supporting advancements in human health.
“Georgia Tech is proud to be at the forefront of the AI revolution,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera in the university’s announcement. “Hosting Nexus is a tremendous honor, and we’re grateful to the NSF for entrusting us with this opportunity to accelerate AI innovation nationwide.”
Nexus will feature extraordinary computing power. According to Georgia Tech, it will:
Perform up to 400 quadrillion operations per second — equivalent to every person on Earth doing 50 million calculations every second.
Include 330 trillion bytes of memory, allowing it to tackle large-scale problems and process massive datasets.
Store 10 quadrillion bytes of flash memory — comparable to a column of paper stretching 500,000 kilometers, from Earth to the moon and partway back.
“This novel system blends traditional high-performance computing with persistent scientific services, enabling groundbreaking AI workflows,” said Katie Antypas, director of NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. “Nexus will be a vital addition to NSF’s portfolio of advanced computing systems.”
Georgia Tech will build Nexus in collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, home to several of the nation’s top academic supercomputers. Together, the institutions will also develop a new high-speed network, creating a shared research infrastructure accessible to U.S. scientists via NSF-supported programs.
“Nexus is more than just a supercomputer — it’s a symbol of what can happen when leading universities collaborate to push the boundaries of science,” said Charles Isbell, chancellor of the University of Illinois and former dean of computing at Georgia Tech.
Construction is set to begin this year, with completion expected by spring 2026. Georgia Tech will operate and maintain Nexus, with up to 10% of its computing capacity reserved for internal campus research.
- “This is a milestone for both Georgia Tech and the broader scientific community,” said Vivek Sarkar, dean of computing at Georgia Tech. “Nexus will accelerate progress on today’s toughest challenges — and open the door to discoveries we haven’t yet imagined.”
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