DAEDALUS is the most powerful supercomputer ever ranked in Greece. On its first appearance in the June 2026 lists, it secured 31st place in the TOP500 ranking of the world's most powerful supercomputers and 23rd place in the Green500 ranking of the most energy-efficient systems.
The inauguration ceremony, held on 19 October in Lavrion Technological Cultural Park – National Technical University of Athens, was attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis; Thomas Skordas, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT); Minister Dimitris Papastergiou; Afrodite Sevasti and Evangelos Floros, Head of Infrastructure unit at the EuroHPC JU. Other distinguished participants included Professor Ioannis Hatzigeorgiou, Professor Emeritus Stefanos Kollias and Professor Nektarios Koziris.
Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated:
“Greece’s journey in technology, from lagging behind to being at the forefront, particularly in the field of Artificial Intelligence, has indeed been and continues to be extremely exciting. I would like to thank everyone who worked to make this project a reality. I can see the emotion in many people’s eyes, because I know how hard you all worked in order for us to reach this point today, where, as a country, we have one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, while at the same time having it installed in a building of such great historical and cultural significance. We are building a ‘bridge’ from the Second Industrial Revolution, from the early 20th century, when we generated electricity in this space, to having installed a supercomputer with exceptional capabilities in the very same building. Now we are taking the next step: making this incredible computing power available to Greek researchers, the Greek business community, start-ups, and larger enterprises alike. Wishing all the good fortune ahead for DAEDALUS operations”.
Thomas Skordas, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), stated:
“It is a great honour to be in Lavrion today for the inauguration of the ‘DAEDALUS’ supercomputer. At a time when technological sovereignty and competitiveness are crucial, Europe is investing strategically in advanced computing. With EUR 36 million in support, ‘DAEDALUS’ strengthens Greece’s position at the heart of the digital future. Greece is among the first seven European countries to host an AI Factory, placing it firmly on the global supercomputing map. As the computing infrastructure of the PHAROS AI Factory, it will turn research into tangible social and economic impact by providing world-class computing power to Greek talent. Together, we are ensuring that Greece and Europe help shape the future.”
Anders Jensen, EuroHPC JU Executive Director, stated:
“I am delighted to welcome another powerful supercomputer to the EuroHPC ecosystem, strengthening Europe’s supercomputing capabilities and technological sovereignty. DAEDALUS will provide European researchers, industry and innovators with access to advanced computing resources focussing on areas such as healthcare, public services, energy, and the environment.”
About the supercomputer
DAEDALUS is a mid-range supercomputer delivering a sustained computing performance of 85.69 petaflops, equivalent to almost 86 quadrillion arithmetic operations per second, with a peak performance of 115 petaflops. It represents another milestone in strengthening Europe's supercomputing capabilities and supporting innovation.
Built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), the system is based on more than 2,000 NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and incorporates advanced direct liquid cooling to support energy-efficient operations.
DAEDALUS is co-funded with a total acquisition cost of EUR 36 million. The EuroHPC JU funds 35% of the total cost of the new system, while the other 65% is funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan ‘Greece 2.0’, financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The DAEDALUS consortium also includes Cyprus, Montenegro and North Macedonia, highlighting the importance of cross-border cooperation in developing Europe's advanced computing infrastructure.
More details
The supercomputer is hosted in a new data centre at the Lavrion Technological Cultural Park of the National Technical University of Athens, within a former power station building that forms part of Greece's industrial heritage. The new data centre is powered by renewable energy sources.
Managed and operated by GRNET S.A., the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology, DAEDALUS will support a broad range of applications, including artificial intelligence, medicine, climate and meteorological research, engineering, big data analytics, smart transport systems and cybersecurity.
Beyond its role as a high-performance computing system, DAEDALUS will provide the computational backbone of PHAROS, the Greek AI Factory established within the EuroHPC JU's European network of AI Factories.
With a focus on areas including health, sustainability, language and culture, the AI Factory will contribute to developing innovative AI solutions and strengthening the European AI ecosystem.
The combination of DAEDALUS and PHAROS will create new opportunities for AI development, supporting European innovators in developing, testing and scaling AI applications.
Background
The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.
To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, distributed across Europe.
European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls no matter where in Europe they are located, to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.
Currently, the EuroHPC JU is also overseeing the implementation of 19 AI Factories across Europe, complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, which offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups.
Additionally, the EuroHPC JU is deploying a European Quantum Computing infrastructure, integrating diverse European quantum computing technologies with existing supercomputers.
The EuroHPC JU also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise.
With the recent adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU’s mandate has been expanded with new action pillars dedicated to the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.
- Publication date
- 19 October 2026
- Author
- European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking