NPS Launches First New NVIDIA AI Supercomputer in US Military

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is the first command in the U.S. military to receive the NVIDIA DGX GB300 artificial intelligence supercomputer Wednesday, marking a major expansion of AI infrastructure for defense research and officer education, officials said.

“AI will be a backbone of America’s defense,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “By supporting the Naval Postgraduate School and placing one of the world’s most advanced Al supercomputers in the hands of the men and women who defend our nation, we are empowering them to train on it, build with it and lead America’s fighting force with the decisive advantages our Sailors, Marines and Joint Force deserve.”

NPS unveiled the system during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its Monterey, California, campus. The supercomputer is part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement established between NPS and NVIDIA in December 2024. Officials said it will accelerate research in areas including weather modeling, oceanography, cybersecurity and disaster response planning.

Military leaders said the system is intended not only to expand computing capacity, but also to prepare future commanders to understand and responsibly employ AI-enabled technologies.

“As advanced computational capabilities continue to evolve globally, responsible understanding and stewardship become even more important,” said Navy Capt. Michael Owen, vice provost for warfare studies and leader of the AI Task Force at NPS. “The question is not whether these technologies will exist. The question is whether future military leaders understand them well enough to evaluate their limitations, apply them ethically and employ them responsibly in support of national security objectives.”

AI Infrastructure Supports Future Warfare

The partnership comes as the War Department emphasizes human-machine integration, data-driven decision-making and AI-enabled operations across the joint force.

“The changing character of warfare impacts the entire spectrum of conflict,” said U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo. “To achieve absolute decision superiority, we must leverage data, compute and human-machine integration to observe, orient, decide, act, assess, learn and adjust faster than any adversary. As we connect these capabilities across space, sensors and networks, our operational advantage does not merely grow by addition, it compounds to deliver overwhelming joint effects.”

Paparo, an NPS alumnus, said access to advanced computing will better prepare officers to apply AI after returning to operational assignments.

“As we modernize our technology, we must also modernize how we educate our leaders. The officers studying at NPS today will return to the fleet and joint force ready to lead Al-enabled formations,” Paparo said. ”Access to advanced computing capability means NPS students and faculty understand the opportunities and responsibilities that come with these technologies.”

Federal Supercomputing

The federal government has invested in high-performance computing for decades. Congress established the Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program in 1992 to provide supercomputing resources, high-speed networking and computational expertise across military laboratories and test facilities.

More recently, the White House unveiled the Genesis Mission initiative to usher in a new era of AI-driven scientific discovery and maintain U.S. technological leadership. The program aligns government, industry and academia by connecting the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories through a unified platform of supercomputers, cloud environments and specialized datasets.

The NPS deployment reflects a broader government effort to expand access to advanced computing as AI becomes increasingly central to research, national security and operational planning.

Education as a Force Multiplier

NPS leaders said the institution’s role extends beyond deploying advanced technology to preparing military leaders to use it effectively.

“Enduring advantage has never depended on technology alone, it depends on leaders with the intellect, wisdom and judgment first to deter conflict and, when necessary, fight decisively,” said retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, president of NPS.

Owen previously told GovCIO Media & Research that the NVIDIA partnership ensures NPS faculty and students remain current as AI technologies rapidly evolve.

“[We are] constantly adding the newest and greatest techniques and things, and they come with teaching kits. You can also see examples of how you can add those rapidly into a course, into your curriculum,” Owen said. “With that partnership, we see a long term ability to stay very current with the cutting edge across the artificial intelligence landscape.”

Rondeau said education remains the military’s greatest competitive advantage.

“Education remains our greatest strategic advantage because, when all things are equal, the human element is the decisive difference,” Rondeau said. “Education has always been the great equalizer. Our national security ultimately rests in the quality of its people, and our mission is to educate those people for our Navy and military.”