Nvidia unveils liquid-cooled data center design cuts water

Nvidia has announced a new, fully liquid-cooled data center design that it claims can virtually eliminate water consumption within the facility, a significant claim as the industry faces growing scrutiny over its environmental impact. The company unveiled the technology for its upcoming Rubin generation of AI infrastructure, which operates at coolant temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

The system uses a closed-loop coolant mixture of water and propylene glycol that is recirculated directly to chips, eliminating the need for traditional evaporative cooling towers and, in many climates, energy-intensive chillers. According to Nvidia, this can reduce a facility's direct cooling water use from approximately 2.6 million gallons per megawatt annually to near zero. Company executives, including Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Parker and Director of Data Center Cooling and Infrastructure Ali Heydari, have stated the design "solves the water consumption challenge for data centers" and eliminates "massive amounts of power usage and pretty much all water usage."

The announcement comes amid heightened public and regulatory concern over data centers'...