By Scott Wright

CODEPLAY, the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning company, has revealed plans to expand its headcount after clinching a second major contract across the Atlantic.

The Edinburgh-based business has been chosen by the US Department of Energy’s National Labs to supply its software to Frontier, one of the highest-performing computers in the world.

It is the second contract to work on the development of a supercomputer that Codeplay has secured with the US Government, after striking a deal in February with the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

And the company now plans to increase its headcount to 100 from the current 80 in the next year, with its hiring intentions driven by the new contract alongside increasing demand from major technology companies for its software. The recruitment will expand Codeplay’s team of software developers and computer scientists in Edinburgh, the company said.

The company also signalled its intention to pursue growth in Europe, Asia and North America, having recently established a presence in Ireland.

The Frontier supercomputer will be used by researchers in areas such as medicine, alternative energy, nuclear physics, materials science and chemistry.

Charles Macfarlane, chief business officer at Codeplay, said: “Having won our first contact with the National Labs in February, a second prestigious contact to support one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers is an incredible endorsement of Codeplay and our technology.

“Much more than an important commercial win, this engagement from the Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories in the US will further enhance our already strong reputation enabling supercomputers. Significantly it shows that our software is portable to almost any hardware – our first engagement with the National Labs was on Nvidia processors – while this is for use on AMD processors.

“Enabling artificial intelligence and supercomputers are the most progressive technologies today and bring the toughest software challenges to overcome.”