OTP Bank to build a supercomputer with SambaNova Systems

OTP Bank to build a supercomputer with SambaNova Systems

OTP Group signed a heretofore unprecedented partnership agreement with SambaNova Systems. The aim of the partnership agreement is to create a supercomputer relying on artificial intelligence as soon as possible to improve financial services. With the assistance of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the solution will be available to the public sector, private industry and higher education.

11 November 2021 – Palo Alto (California, USA) and Budapest (Hungary) – SambaNova Systems, the company building the industry’s most advanced software, hardware and solutions to run artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and OTP Group, the leading banking group in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) today announced a strategic partnership to build the fastest AI supercomputer in Europe. The system is intended to deploy one of the most advanced language models in the world. For this, they will put into operation a multi-rack AI system built on SambaNova Dataflow-as-a-Service GPT. With the assistance of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the solution will be available to the public sector, private industry and higher education.

“This is a unique collaboration between OTP Group, ITM, and SambaNova Systems to provide an incredible resource to the country and the Central and Eastern European region. We are pleased to announce that this ground-breaking supercomputer will represent a unique AI capability to build GPT-3 level language models for languages across CEE”, said Péter Csányi, Deputy CEO, Head of Digital Division at OTP Group.

With this partnership, OTP Group takes the European lead in AI research and development. Thanks to the solution, the bank will be able to process large amounts of text-based information and data in a short time, speeding up workflows and enabling artificial intelligence to take over monotonous, repetitive tasks. The service will create more space for human creativity in the area of innovation. The bank’s customers will experience faster, more personalised financial services than ever before.

“OTP Group has an impressive industry-leading plan to make AI its key technology driver for the next decade. With the support of ITM, the AI environment that they are creating will provide accessible, cutting-edge infrastructure for universities, research centres, public and private organisations across Hungary”, said Prof. Dr. László Palkovics, Minister for Innovation and Technology in Hungary.

The partnership between OTP Group and SambaNova Systems is a multi-year collaboration agreement to deploy SambaNova’s Dataflow-as-a-Service GPT solution and build a one-of-a-kind Hungarian language model, to be followed by the unique languages of other OTP Group countries. With this implementation, the bank will transform itself, cutting across every corner of the enterprise, from the front office to the back office.

Large language models are quickly becoming the primary interface to the enterprise and AI will drive the transformation of industries. This deployment at OTP Group will showcase what is possible with advanced AI across document-heavy industries, such as banking and financial services”, said Rodrigo Liang, co-founder and CEO of SambaNova Systems.

Had it been developed and deployed in-house, the project would have taken the bank several years and extensive human capital resources. With SambaNova, OTP Group can deploy in days or weeks. Once deployed, this AI supercomputer will enable OTP Bank to advance forward with AI and make further inroads across the global financial market.