Hive Digital's Buzz signs partnership with Bell

Executive Summary

• Buzz High Performance Computing (Buzz HPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hive Digital Technologies Ltd., signed a preferred partnership with Bell Canada to deliver advanced sovereign AI infrastructure.
• The collaboration integrates Buzz HPC’s Nvidia-accelerated computing infrastructure (Ampere, Hopper, and Blackwell GPUs) with Bell AI Fabric’s network and data centers to serve government and enterprise customers in Canada.
• The initiative aims to provide secure, data-resident AI capabilities within Canadian-owned facilities, starting with a five-megawatt deployment in Manitoba later this year.

Key Details

• Partnership Structure: Buzz HPC (subsidiary of Hive Digital) entered a preferred partnership with Bell Canada (largest telecommunications provider in Canada).
• Infrastructure Provided: Buzz HPC will provide access to Nvidia Ampere, Nvidia Hopper, and Nvidia Blackwell GPU clusters.
• Networking: Infrastructure is scalable over Nvidia Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking.
• Integration: Buzz HPC’s accelerated computing infrastructure is integrated with Bell AI Fabric’s advanced fiber network, data centers, and partner ecosystem (including Cohere).
• Use Cases: Supports developing AI foundational models, fine-tuning existing models, machine learning, and scientific computing.
• Data Sovereignty: All data and compute infrastructure remain within Canadian-owned facilities to ensure compliance with national residency and privacy laws.
• Deployment Schedule:
  • Launching later this year.
  • Initial deployment: Five-megawatt capacity in Manitoba.
  • Expansion: Into other Bell AI Fabric data centers across multiple provinces.
• Ecosystem Components:
  • Buzz HPC: Foundational hardware layer for large-scale AI workloads.
  • Cohere: Customized large language models.
  • Ateko: Specialized professional services.
  • Bell: Advanced network and data center backbone.
• Sustainability: Infrastructure is powered by green energy/renewable hydroelectric energy, designed for sustainable, scalable growth.

Notable Quotes

• Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman, Buzz HPC: "Sovereign is the new standard for cloud computing, and this partnership with Bell marks the beginning of a new era for AI innovation in Canada... we are uniquely positioned to help Canada lead in AI while protecting its digital independence."
• Craig Tavares, President and COO, Buzz HPC: "Buzz and Bell are sovereign by design, built to protect privacy and deliver trusted performance for innovators of all kinds... empowering innovators to build globally competitive AI while maintaining full control over their data."
• John Watson, Group President, Business Markets, AI and Ateko, Bell: "Buzz HPC is one of the few Canadian cloud service providers with a purpose-built AI cloud that has experience operating GPU clusters at scale... delivering the advanced workloads our customers need in a sovereign, private and secure Canadian facility."
• Dave Salvator, Director, Accelerated Computing, Nvidia: "Buzz HPC's Nvidia infrastructure provides a high-performance AI computing backbone to drive innovation through Bell AI Fabric."