Groq® is Selected to Provide Access to World's Fastest AI Inference Engine for the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot

Real-time Inference Leader Joins Elite Group Offering U.S.-based Researchers and Educators Access to Cutting-edge AI Technologies, Powering Responsible AI Innovation 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Groq^®, the leader in real-time AI inference, announced its participation in the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot today. The Pilot, a U.S. National Science Foundation-led program, marks the first step towards creating a shared national research infrastructure to connect U.S. researchers and educators to responsible and trustworthy AI research resources. In collaboration with 13 federal agencies and 25 private sector, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations, Groq is powering the next phase of responsible AI research, discovery, and innovation by providing access to its LPU^™ Inference Engine – the only solution delivering real-time AI inference today – via GroqCloud^™.

"Groq was founded, in part, to end the 'haves and have-nots' in AI," said Groq Public Sector President Aileen Black. "Lack of access to necessary resources should never prevent a researcher from succeeding at the next Operation Warp Speed. It is an honor to provide the next generation of AI innovators with the real-time inference needed to run text-based applications and other AI workloads at scale."

With GroqCloud, researchers can leverage leading open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) from providers like META, Google, and Mistral, who have built leading AI models according to industry benchmarks and human evaluation. The LPU Inference Engine makes it easy to conduct research, as well as test and deploy new generative AI applications and other AI workloads because it delivers 10x the speed while consuming just 1/10th the energy of comparable systems using GPUs for inference. Researchers can also access the Groq technology via the ALCF Argonne Leadership Compute Facility, which includes a GroqRack^™ compute cluster that provides an extensible accelerator network of 9 GroqNode^™ servers with a rotational multi-node network topology.

"Inference plays an increasingly pivotal role in the AI ecosystem of computing, data, software, and platforms researchers require to advance innovation and scientific discovery in a responsible manner for the country. Groq's contribution to the NAIRR Pilot will enable researchers to access leading models, helping to realize their boldest research visions," said Katie Antypas, director of the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure at the U.S. National Science Foundation.     

The LPU Inference Engine is a new processing system developed to handle computationally intensive applications with sequential components, such as LLMs, audio, control systems, network observance, and more. While CPUs and GPUs excel in tasks related to data input and model training, they encounter challenges in executing at-scale inference in ultra-low, real-time workloads. Sub-optimal latency, throughput, power consumption, and a sequential processing nature adversely impact their effectiveness. Groq addressed these limitations when designing the LPU to ensure repeatable ultra-low latency without hindering performance.

About Groq
Groq^® builds the world's fastest AI inference technology. The LPU^™ Inference Engine by Groq is a hardware and software platform that delivers exceptional compute speed, quality, and energy efficiency. Groq, headquartered in Silicon Valley, provides cloud and on-prem solutions at scale for AI applications. The LPU and related systems are designed, fabricated, and assembled in North America. Try Groq speed at www.groq.com.

About the NAIRR and the NAIRR Pilot
The NAIRR is a concept for a national infrastructure that connects U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, software, model and training resources they need to participate in AI research.

The NAIRR pilot, as directed in the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, is a proof-of-concept for the eventual full-scale NAIRR. The pilot will focus on supporting research and education across the nationwide research community, while gaining insights that will refine the design of a full NAIRR.

Researchers can discover and apply for initial access to NAIRR pilot resources through the NAIRR pilot portal at www.nairrpilot.org. The NAIRR pilot welcomes additional private sector and nonprofit partners. Those interested are encouraged to reach out to NSF at [email protected]. 

Media Contact for Groq
Megan Hartwick
[email protected]

SOURCE Groq