Up to US$7 million per project: Launch call in Development and Management for "Supercomputing" Infrastructure for AI
The applications will be open between November 7, 2024, and 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, with the application being made on the Corfo site.
With the aim of enhancing the technological infrastructure in the country to process and analyze large volumes of data, allowing for the development of innovative solutions for strategic sectors such as mining, agriculture, energy, manufacturing and services, and thus also new ventures or business opportunities, a call was launched for the "Development and management of a national supercomputing infrastructure specialized in Artificial Intelligence" (AI), which will offer public financing of up to US$7 million per project.
The launch event was led by the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Aisén Etcheverry, together with the Executive Vice President of Corfo, José Miguel Benavente, highlighting that supercomputing is fundamental for optimizing processes, reducing costs and improving competitiveness in these sectors, contributing to the growth and sustainability of the national economy.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM?
The call is aimed at technology companies, AI technology transfer centers and universities; as well as one or more legal entities established or incorporated in Chile or abroad, public or private, non-profit or for-profit, which, as a whole, possess or may have permanent technical capabilities and infrastructure, for the execution of R&D activities.
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The applications will be open between November 7, 2024, and 13:00 hours on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, with the application being made on the website www.corfo.cl.
WHAT BENEFIT DOES IT PROVIDE?
The awarded companies will have an execution period of up to 5 years, with two stages of development and will have co-financing of up to 80% of the total project cost, with a cap of 7 million dollars per selected initiative.
Furthermore, it will bring numerous benefits to Chile. Among the main impacts expected are the increase in AI capabilities, the promotion of technological development and digitization in key sectors of the economy, and the reduction of foreign technological dependence.
It is envisaged that this infrastructure will strengthen Chile's digital sovereignty and facilitate the creation of an innovation ecosystem in AI, increasing the competitiveness of Chilean companies at a global level.
Other benefits include talent retention and attraction of foreign investment in the technology sector, as well as optimization of industrial processes and reduction of environmental impact, especially in industries such as mining, energy, health, and agriculture.
The ability to process large volumes of data will allow the development of advanced technological solutions that could improve the quality of life for people in various areas.
BIG DATA: More and Better Capacity and Infrastructure.
During the launch of the call for applications, Minister Etcheverry stated that "there is a saying used by those who live in the world of infrastructure that is if you don't compute, you don't compete. Today, computing capacity is the main element that enables the development of digital technologies and allows artificial intelligence to develop well. And in that field, Chile has enormous current infrastructure capabilities, but we want them to continue growing and be projected into the future."
He added that this investment made by the State of Chile is a signal to the industry, the private sector and academia, aimed at reinforcing the government's strategy in terms of growth, technological development and artificial intelligence.
The Secretary of State affirmed that there is a much greater spirit of collaboration and we see it nationally, but also in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, as a government, we are working with the CAF to further increase computing capabilities, beyond this call, collaboratively and in a network with the rest of the countries. I would indeed say that many of the concerns and challenges of collaboration that we have had in recent years have been dissipating and today we see great opportunities.
For his part, the Executive Vice President of Corfo, José Miguel Benavente, explained that in countries where these supercomputing capabilities have already been incorporated, improvements of over 10% are shown in the total productivity of factors that productive plants have when using this type of tools.
"This is not oriented towards a single productive sector; traditional industries such as mining or agroindustry require the capacities of these tools to make their processes more productive, more efficient, and provide more transparency with respect to the various aspects of their productive work. However, the service sector also requires this type of tools, as do finance and other key areas," expressed the Vice of Corfo.
Benavente stressed that this call - which is funded with resources from the leasing of Corfo's lithium mining properties - aims to develop a supercomputing capacity in Chile capable of being collaborative beyond the capacity of industries and companies, in order to generate use in both the private and public sector.
"Our idea is for those who secure this funding to be conglomerates, associations of different types of institutions that represent not only those focused on developing capacities in supercomputing themes based on the tool of artificial intelligence, but also those sectors that can use this type of solutions that can also be the public world such as the Armed Forces which can use it for spatial issues or other types of tools in which artificial intelligence can be key," he pointed out.
These cores will allow startups, companies and academic centers to have access to advanced supercomputing capabilities, promoting collaboration between academia, government and the private sector, and strengthening the national innovation ecosystem. The R&D Challenge creates a unique platform for Chilean startups and companies, who can now develop advanced AI solutions that compete globally.
Currently, the country has facilities such as the National High Performance Computing Laboratory (NLHPC) and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), which together have thousands of processing cores. However, the current capacity is limited, and there is a need to expand in order to sustain accelerated technological growth and support the development of advanced AI applications.