Python will be the fourth officially-supported language in the OpenMP API;

Leading Python infrastructure company Anaconda joins the OpenMP ARB

Today the OpenMP® Architecture Review Board (ARB) announces the formation of an OpenMP Python Language Subcommittee to add Python support to version 7.0 of the OpenMP API specification. At the same time, Anaconda, a key contributor to Python's infrastructure and tooling ecosystem, has joined the OpenMP ARB and will play an important role in the Python integration effort.

Python is one of the most popular programming languages, widely used in application programming across many ecosystems, and the OpenMP API is one of the most used APIs in high-performance computing, embedded systems, and more. Adding Python support to the OpenMP standard will provide Python developers with a new way to express parallelism portably and accelerate Python applications running on CPUs, GPUs, and other accelerators. Technical reports will detail the preliminary integration along the way, with the 7.0 release planned for 2029.

Anaconda brings deep expertise in Python performance optimization and has been instrumental in developing critical infrastructure used throughout the Python community. Trusted by 50 million users and 95% of the Fortune 500, Anaconda provides the foundation for intelligent systems that solve complex, high-value problems. As an OpenMP ARB member, Anaconda will contribute technical leadership and help to ensure that the Python implementation meets the needs of the broader ecosystem.

“Joining the OpenMP ARB lets us bring parallel computing capabilities directly to developers,” said Stanley Seibert, Senior Director of Community Innovation at Anaconda. “By combining OpenMP's proven standard for high-performance parallel computing with Anaconda's decade-plus experience in Python performance engineering and compiler technology, we're committed to ensuring this integration will serve teams building compute-intensive AI and data applications at scale.”

“I’m excited to lead the effort to expand OpenMP support to Python,” said Giorgis Georgakoudis, Chair of the OpenMP Python Language Subcommittee. “I believe the Python community will greatly benefit from OpenMP’s open, portable programming abstractions for performance acceleration. Anaconda’s participation brings invaluable real-world Python experience that will be crucial to our success.”

“Adding Python as a base language to the OpenMP API is a major undertaking,” said Bronis R. de Supinski, Chair of the OpenMP Language Committee. “This exciting direction has already met with enthusiasm from the Python community, and Anaconda’s membership reinforces our commitment to getting this right.”

“Python is a cornerstone of both HPC and AI, offering unmatched productivity and flexibility,” said Michael Klemm, CEO of the OpenMP ARB. “Adding support for Python to the OpenMP API will strengthen this advantage by enabling efficient, portable parallelism across heterogeneous architectures. We’re delighted to welcome Anaconda and look forward to their contributions.”

Companies wishing to participate in our effort are invited to become OpenMP members and join in the ongoing conversation. See information about OpenMP membership at https://www.openmp.org/join/.

About OpenMP

The OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB) standardizes high-level, directive-based, multi-language parallelism that is performant, productive, and portable. Jointly defined by a group of major hardware and software vendors and research organizations, the OpenMP API is a portable, scalable model that gives programmers an interface for developing parallel applications for platforms including embedded systems, accelerator devices, multicore and shared-memory systems, artificial intelligence systems, and more. For more information, see https://www.openmp.org.

About Anaconda

Anaconda is built to advance AI with open source at scale, giving builders and organizations the confidence to increase productivity, and save time, spend and risk associated with open source. 95% of the Fortune 500 including Panasonic, AmTrust, Booz Allen Hamilton and over 50 million users rely on the value The Anaconda Platform delivers through a centralized approach to sourcing, securing, building, and deploying AI. With 21 billion downloads and growing, Anaconda has established itself as the gold standard for Python, data science, and AI and the enterprise-ready solution of choice for AI innovation. Anaconda is available across hybrid AI environments and cloud platforms such as AWS, Databricks, Snowflake and more with backing from world-class investors including Insight Partners. Learn more at https://www.anaconda.com.

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Adding Python to the OpenMP API has been met with enthusiasm from the Python community.