US chip manufacturer Nvidia is establishing a new AI center in Sweden in collaboration with the Wallenberg sphere and several major Swedish companies, including Astra Zeneca, Ericsson, Saab, and SEB.
The aim of the initiative is to strengthen Sweden’s position in artificial intelligence by building the country’s first AI supercomputer for business. The center will be run by a joint venture formed by the parties involved.
– Investing in cutting-edge AI infrastructure is a crucial step toward accelerating the development and adoption of AI across Swedish industry, said Marcus Wallenberg, chairman of Wallenberg Investments, in a statement, adding:
– We believe this initiative will generate valuable spillover effects – by enabling upskilling, fostering new collaborations, and strengthening the broader national AI ecosystem.
The initiative was announced during a visit to Sweden by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. During his visit, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate at Linköping University.
– As electricity powered the industrial age and the Internet fueled the digital age, AI is the engine of the next industrial revolution. Through the visionary initiative of Wallenberg Investments and Sweden’s industry leaders, the country is building its first AI infrastructure – laying the foundation for breakthroughs across science, industry, and society, and securing Sweden’s place at the forefront of the AI era, argues Nvidia’s CEO.
AI-driven drug development
And the players have clear ambitions for the initiative. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will use the system for AI-driven breakthroughs in drug development, with advanced models and data processing.
Ericsson wants to develop AI models to improve performance, efficiency, and customer experiences, as well as enable new business models.
Saab will invest in AI to accelerate the development of advanced defense capabilities in its leading systems, and SEB will integrate AI for increased productivity, new customer offerings, and long-term competitiveness, with a focus on critical infrastructure.
“The ambition with this initiative is to establish a next generation AI compute infrastructure that is both a production facility and at the same time serves as a reference installation, unlocking new possibilities for AI adoption”, the companies said.