The Trillion Parameter Consortium (TPC): Accelerating AI-Focused Scientific Computing
Many of us are old enough to remember the Apollo Saturn V rocket lifting off the launch pad. It took about 12 seconds for the rocket to clear the tower. The five big engines pushed a lot of mass. The goal, of course, was getting men and equipment to the moon and back. Big goals take organization, lots of people, and a big push to keep the effort moving.
The Trillion Parameter Consortium (TPC), formed in 2023, is an international organization designed to push AI-focused scientific computing into a sustained orbit. Its goals include building an open community, identifying, incubating, and facilitating collaboration, and creating a global network of expertise and resources. Like the Saturn V, the TPC has been accelerating and is quickly gaining speed.
During the first 18 months, as TPC grew from 150 to over 1,400 participants, working groups formed and interacted to identify specific areas of collaboration, such as building and sharing data resources, jointly training large models, creating methods and tools to evaluate models concerning scientific skills, and identifying areas where common approaches—even standards—would accelerate progress. There are currently 82 active member organizations within the TPC, and all organizations are encouraged to apply for membership.
Spinning up the Virtuous Cycle of Discovery
HPC is about the acceleration of scientific and engineering problems. Faster computing leads to faster time to solution and new discoveries. The continued growth of AI, Big Data, and HPC have all played a part in this process, but until recently, harnessing the synergy of these technologies was not feasible. Created mostly by the success of AI, particularly GenAI models, the combination of these three areas has fostered a virtuous cycle of discovery for science and technology.
The TPC is the Virtuous Cycle in action. One of the challenges in HPC and technical computing is finding where GenAI “fits in” and, more importantly, “what it all means” in terms of future discoveries. The TPC is an open community effort to answer these questions and provide the foundational tools, experience, and resources to turn the virtuous cycle.
Building a Foundation for the TPC
Large-scale AI models, particularly LLMs, have rapidly grown in many areas. Recognizing the power of such models, scientists and engineers have demonstrated early success and believe foundational models directly aimed at open science and technology can bring novel insights, accelerate research, and more efficiently explore complex problems.
The TPC has recognized the need for such models that thrive in an open, fair, accountable, and responsible development environment and serve scientific progress and societal benefit. To this end, the TPC has the following stated objectives:
- Foster an open, collaborative community environment for scientific AI—an environment where questions, sharing best practices, and training are encouraged.
- Provide an open forum for discussing ethical considerations (fairness, privacy protections, intellectual property considerations, and legal compliance).
The TPC25 Program
TPC25 is the emergence of a seminal event. According to Tom Tabor, CEO of Tabor Communications:
“[TPC25] is an all-hands meeting and conference, along with the Trillion Parameter Consortium itself, represent the point of the spear of developing AI technology for science and engineering. This event will include robust participation from the AI, HPC, data vendor communities, industrial end-user communities, and funding agencies.”
The TPC25 program is taking shape. The program committee is seeking to include “Birds of a Feather” (BOF) sessions designed to stimulate new working groups focused on topics such as various industry applications (e.g., manufacturing, supply chain, finance) and collaboration opportunities among academia, national laboratories, and AI companies.
Conclusion
The Trillion Parameter Consortium (TPC) is a groundbreaking organization that is pushing the boundaries of AI-focused scientific computing. With its focus on building an open community, identifying, incubating, and facilitating collaboration, and creating a global network of expertise and resources, the TPC is poised to accelerate the development of AI models that can play the role of a scientific assistant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Trillion Parameter Consortium (TPC)?
A: The TPC is an international organization designed to push AI-focused scientific computing into a sustained orbit.
Q: What are the goals of the TPC?
A: The TPC’s goals include building an open community, identifying, incubating, and facilitating collaboration, and creating a global network of expertise and resources.
Q: How many member organizations are currently part of the TPC?
A: There are currently 82 active member organizations within the TPC.
Q: How can I get involved in the TPC?
A: You can get involved in the TPC by joining the community and attending TPC25.
Q: What is the TPC25 program?
A: The TPC25 program is an all-hands meeting and conference that will include robust participation from the AI, HPC, data vendor communities, industrial end-user communities, and funding agencies.
