The Cyberport's AI Supercomputing Center officially commenced operations in December last year. The SAR government has allocated HK$3 billion to launch a three-year AI subsidy scheme through Cyberport, funding local universities, R&D institutions, and enterprises to utilize the supercomputing center to drive innovative AI research, development, and applications.
Yesterday, Hendrick Sin, Chairman of the AI Subsidy Scheme Committee, stated that since the scheme's launch in October last year, the committee has received over 20 applications. As of the end of June this year, the committee has approved 10 projects from local universities and R&D institutions, covering areas such as local large language models, new materials, synthetic biology, and medical large models, with total subsidies exceeding HK$300 million.
Sin further noted that the approved projects have been gradually utilizing the supercomputing center's services since January this year, with over 90% of the currently available computing power already in use. In addition to providing computing power subsidies, the scheme actively enhances the supercomputing center's network and data security. Through promotional efforts and talent development, it aims to attract global AI enterprises, experts, and R&D projects to establish themselves in Hong Kong, injecting new momentum into the city's AI development.
HK$100 mn reserved to enhance security technology
Crystal Fok, AI Application Director of Cyberport, mentioned that the supercomputing center's current total computing capacity has reached 1,300 PFLOPS and will be upgraded to 3,000 PFLOPS this year, sufficient to support various AI developments in Hong Kong. Among the 10 approved projects, aside from universities, there are also R&D centers, enterprises, and government departments, including projects from commercial organizations.
She believes the trend for future project approvals will be faster and more numerous. Recently, new applications have been received, including from international companies, which expressed difficulties in obtaining sufficient computing power for AI R&D in Hong Kong and are thus actively applying for the Scheme.
Additionally, Cyberport is actively enhancing AI security, candidly stating that the more AI there is, the harder it is to ensure security. Therefore, out of the HK$3 billion allocation, HK$100 million has been reserved to continuously improve security technology and strengthen the overall security level of the supercomputing center. At the same time, Cyberport will raise industry awareness of AI security applications through ongoing training, forums, and experience-sharing sessions. The Subsidy Scheme has approved 10 projects involving HK$300 million, covering areas such as local large language models and new materials.
Regarding projects that were not approved, Fok responded that the evaluation primarily considers four criteria. Apart from computing power and technical team capabilities, the main factor is whether the project is relevant to Hong Kong and can enhance the city's AI capabilities. Some applications were temporarily rejected because they lacked a local R&D team or were not primarily intended for application in Hong Kong. Cyberport will continuously adjust the scheme's content and evaluation criteria, emphasizing the breadth of projects. She stressed that as long as a project has value and brings a positive impact to Hong Kong, both Cyberport and the approval committee will strongly support it.
When asked about the supercomputing center's chip configuration, Fok revealed that the center currently uses only NVIDIA H800 chips, the highest-performance chips available in Hong Kong and most suitable for model training. However, Cyberport hopes to see AI projects deployed for practical applications as soon as possible and is considering introducing inference-oriented chips in the next phase. She believes the origin of the chips is not the most critical factor; instead, priority will be given to their performance and cost-effectiveness to better support future AI projects, providing improved options for inference-based applications.
Cyberport attracts over 120 new enterprises annually
Fok also mentioned that Cyberport now hosts over 400 leading AI companies and startups, with more than 120 added in the past year alone, including several key AI enterprises. Cyberport has also partnered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to launch a Generative AI (GenAI) sandbox. The supercomputing center provides a dedicated platform to support R&D in generative AI applications for risk management, fraud detection, customer interaction, and more, promoting financial innovation and the intelligent transformation of the financial industry.
(Source: Wen Wei Po; Journalist: Chris; English Editor: Darius)
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