The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, NVIDIA, and Oracle to build the largest AI supercomputer in its laboratory system. The collaboration aims to provide DOE researchers with immediate access to advanced AI computing resources while constructing two next-generation AI supercomputing systems at Argonne National Laboratory.
The first system, Solstice, will be equipped with 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and is set to become the largest AI supercomputer within the DOE’s network. Another system, Equinox, will feature 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. Construction on Equinox at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility will begin immediately, with delivery expected in 2026. Both systems are designed to integrate with DOE’s scientific instruments and data assets to address national challenges related to energy, security, and scientific discovery.
Oracle will also provide immediate access for DOE researchers to AI computing resources that utilize both NVIDIA Hopper and Blackwell architectures. This arrangement allows scientists from Argonne and other institutions across the country to use new AI capabilities for science and energy research.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated: “Winning the AI race requires new and creative partnerships that will bring together the brightest minds and industries American technology and science has to offer. The two Argonne systems and the collaboration between the Department of Energy, NVIDIA, and Oracle represent a new commonsense approach to computing partnerships. These systems will be a powerhouse for scientific and technological innovation. Thanks to President Trump, we’re bringing new computing capacity online faster than ever before and turning shared innovation into national strength.”
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA said: “AI is the most powerful technology of our time, and science is its greatest frontier. Together with the Department of Energy and Oracle, we’re building an AI factory that will serve as America’s engine for discovery, giving researchers access to the most advanced AI infrastructure to drive progress across fields ranging from healthcare research to materials.”
The DOE highlighted its history of public-private partnerships in supercomputing leadership over several decades. The department noted that this latest effort demonstrates a model where government agencies share investments and computing power with industry partners.
Clay Magouyrk, CEO of Oracle added: “At Oracle, we are proud to partner with the Department of Energy to deliver sovereign, high-performance AI capabilities. Our collaboration at Argonne, tapping into the power of OCI, will provide a critical resource to address the nation’s most complex challenges and accelerate the next wave of scientific breakthroughs.”
Paul Kearns, director at Argonne National Laboratory commented: “The Equinox and Solstice systems are designed to accelerate a broad set of scientific AI workflows, and we are collaborating with Oracle and NVIDIA to prepare thousands of researchers to effectively leverage the systems’ groundbreaking capabilities. This system will seamlessly connect to forefront DOE experimental facilities such as our Advanced Photon Source, allowing scientists to address some of the nation’s most pressing challenges through scientific discovery.”
The planned supercomputers will allow scientists using tools like NVIDIA Megatron-Core software stack for training large models needed in open science research.
DOE officials say this three-phase partnership—immediate cloud-based resources from Oracle followed by installation of Equinox then Solstice—will shorten research timelines by giving staff rapid access to state-of-the-art tools needed for major discoveries.
