VAST Data Powers TACC’s Horizon with AI Operating System

New updates have been reported about VAST Data (PC:VASTD)

VAST Data has been selected by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to provide the data layer for Horizon, the world’s highest-performing academic system. Announced at SuperComputing 2025, this collaboration marks a significant milestone for VAST Data, as Horizon will serve as the flagship system for the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Leadership-Class Computing Facility. This partnership builds on VAST’s existing relationship with TACC, which has already integrated the VAST AI Operating System into its Stampede3 and Vista supercomputing systems. Horizon is expected to be ten times larger than TACC’s current largest system, Frontera, and will facilitate advanced research in fields such as climate science, energy, and biomedicine.

The VAST AI Operating System will provide a unified, high-throughput data environment for Horizon, enabling researchers to execute larger computational jobs more efficiently. Over the past two years, VAST’s technology has delivered significant improvements in performance and scalability for TACC, including a 30% faster time-to-results and the ability to handle more concurrent clients than competing systems. This proven track record influenced TACC’s decision to extend VAST’s technology to Horizon. Dan Stanzione, Executive Director at TACC, highlighted the importance of VAST’s role in simplifying data management at scale, which is crucial for the upcoming Leadership-Class Computing Facility. The Horizon system is set to begin early science operations in January 2026, with full production expected by June 2026. This development underscores VAST Data’s pivotal role in advancing scientific research through cutting-edge AI infrastructure.