NVIDIA, the world’s most valuable company, is partnering with Monash University and Dell to build Australia’s first supercomputer, promising to elevate the country into the AI big leagues.
The supercomputer, called Maveric and built in collaboration with CDC data centers, will be purpose-built for large-scale AI and data-intensive workloads and feature technology that has never been deployed in the country.
Maveric will be deployed at the CDC facility in the Melbourne suburb of Brooklyn, with construction starting later this year. The system is expected to be operational in early 2026, and was unveiled on Wednesday morning at a meeting between Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, Assistant Minister for Science Andrew Charlton and NVIDIA executives.
“Without this kind of AI supercomputer power, Australian researchers are trying to compete on the world stage with one hand tied behind their back,” Monash University Vice-Chancellor Sharon Pickering said in an interview.
“We’re making a $60 million investment here so that Australia can be a world leader, not just be prepared to be second. We need to be prepared to be the best in the world and our world-leading researchers; my job is to make sure they have the best infrastructure in the world to support them.”
Maveric will initially focus on improving medical research, Pickersing said, including developing new pharmaceutical products and personalizing treatments for patients suffering from acute medical conditions. It will also focus on environmental issues, including Antarctic research and research into the effects of heat on populations. It will be available to university researchers and academics, students and research partners.
The supercomputer will be built using Dell racks and servers and features NVIDIA’s GB200 NVL72 platform. Amid debate over Australia’s role in the global AI arms race, Dell Australia managing director Angela Fox said Maveric represented a “leapfrog” opportunity for the nation in its AI capabilities.
“This allows researchers to use increasingly sophisticated AI models to address some of Australia’s and the world’s most pressing issues and will deliver lasting value to the nation,” she said. “This is a huge win for the research community and for Australia as a whole.”
