Reuters reports that Schneider Electric, a prominent French electrical equipment manufacturer, has partnered with Nvidia (NVDA) to innovate cooling systems for data centers, specifically tailored for new artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructures. This collaboration aims to address the immense cooling demands introduced by Nvidia’s latest servers, which incorporate 72 of their most advanced AI chips and are slated for rollout in early 2025. These servers are designed to consume up to 132 kilowatts per rack, with the highest performance models necessitating liquid cooling to function efficiently.
The move by Nvidia towards liquid cooling for a significant portion of its chip offerings has catalyzed a wave of data center development and refurbishment across the industry, adapting to the intensive power and cooling requirements of modern AI hardware. Schneider Electric’s involvement focuses on creating versatile cooling solutions that can be adjusted based on the number of Nvidia servers deployed and their power consumption, providing flexibility to data center operators.
Aparna Prabhakar, Senior Vice President of Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division, emphasized the complexity of the project, highlighting that Schneider is responsible for the external cooling infrastructure while Nvidia focuses on the server internals. This division of labor underscores a collaborative approach to meet the unique challenges posed by AI data centers, where traditional cooling methods fall short.
The resulting cooling designs are intended for sale to cloud computing providers and other data center clients, offering them a solution to manage the thermal output of high-density AI computing environments. This partnership not only signifies a strategic expansion for Schneider Electric in the AI data center market but also reflects the company’s commitment to innovation in energy management, especially after a recent leadership change and a substantial contract with Compass Datacenters for $3 billion worth of electrical equipment.
By integrating Schneider’s expertise in energy management with Nvidia’s advancements in AI technology, this collaboration is poised to set new standards for data center efficiency and sustainability, catering to the escalating needs of AI-driven computations. However, while the technical synergy between the two companies is clear, specific financial details of their agreement remain undisclosed, keeping the focus on technological innovation and potential scalability in the rapidly evolving AI data center landscape.
Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Leave a Reply