The latest update to the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers has brought significant changes to the top spots. The new leader is El Capitan, installed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA. This is the third system to achieve exascale performance, reaching 1.742 exaflops, surpassing the previous leader, Frontier, now in second place with 1.353 exaflops. Aurora claims the third position with 1.012 exaflops.

Among the European highlights, MareNostrum 5, located at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and with 5% Portuguese participation, secured 11th place. This supercomputer plays a crucial role in various European scientific projects. Meanwhile, Deucalion, housed at the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) in Portugal, ranks 259th, continuing to support national and European research initiatives.

Other notable systems include LUMI (Finland, 8th place) and Leonardo (Italy, 9th place), emphasizing Europe’s growing prominence in the list, thanks to funding from the EuroHPC JU initiative, which continues to boost supercomputing across the continent.

The full list, showcasing the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, can be consulted here.

[Image credits: Garry McLeod/LLNL]