Exascale computing

Exascale computing refers to <a href="/facts/Computer_system/SQe1aK05">computing systems</a> capable of calculating at least 1018 IEEE 754 Double Precision (64-bit) operations (multiplications and/or additions) per second (<a href="/facts/Exa/x8wY9T75">exa</a><a href="/facts/FLOPS/6zYlH68F">FLOPS</a>)"; it is a measure of <a href="/facts/Supercomputer/HT9NwGAN">supercomputer</a> performance.
Exascale computing is a significant achievement in <a href="/facts/Computer_engineering/5x1TRKGo">computer engineering</a>: primarily, it allows improved scientific applications and better prediction accuracy in domains such as <a href="/facts/Weather_forecasting/nzqyMFCa">weather forecasting</a>, <a href="/facts/Climate_modeling/5xQBYLcl">climate modeling</a> and <a href="/facts/Personalised_medicine/rawUyWgd">personalised medicine</a>. Exascale also reaches the estimated processing power of the <a href="/facts/Human_brain/qfSwSB8K">human brain</a> at the neural level, a target of the now defunct <a href="/facts/Human_Brain_Project/77NdNkM9">Human Brain Project</a>. There has been a race to be the first country to build an exascale computer, typically ranked in the <a href="/facts/TOP500/rz8zbyss">TOP500</a> list.
In 2022, the world's first public exascale computer, <a href="/facts/Frontier_(supercomputer)/NTUlSjry">Frontier</a>, was announced. As of November 2024, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's <a href="/facts/El_Capitan_(supercomputer)/hQTdofIV">El Capitan</a> is the world's fastest exascale supercomputer.

Exascale computing open-in-new

Exascale computing