- Major technology companies like Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are investing billions in their data center infrastructure to support generative AI. But the proliferation of data centers has also led to rising energy demands.
- Sustainable Metal Cloud said the company’s immersion cooling technology is 28% cheaper to install than other liquid-based solutions and reduces energy consumption by up to 50%.
- “It enables high-density hosting for GPUs. It enables the kind of hosting we need for platforms like (Nvidia’s) Grace Blackwell,” said Tim Rosenfield, co-founder and co-CEO of Sustainable Metal Cloud.
The boom in artificial intelligence is increasing the demand for more powerful processors and the energy required to cool data centers.
This is an opportunity for data center company Sustainable Metal Cloud, which operates “sustainable AI factories” consisting of its HyperCubes in Singapore and Australia.
The HyperCubes contain servers with Nvidia processors immersed in a synthetic oil called polyalphaolefin, which dissipates heat more efficiently than air. The company said its platform reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional air-cooling technology typically used in data centers.
“It enables high-density hosting for GPUs. It enables the kind of hosting we need for platforms like (Nvidia’s) Grace Blackwell,” said Tim Rosenfield, co-founder and co-CEO of Sustainable Metal Cloud, referring to the new generation of AI graphics processors that Nvidia announced in March.
The Singapore-based company also said its immersion cooling technology is 28% cheaper to install than other liquid-based solutions. The HyperCubes are designed for use in any data center and can be deployed in unused spaces within existing data centers.
“Because our solution is containerized, we can go anywhere very quickly. And we can open new availability zones to respond to our customers’ demand…” said Rosenfield.
He said SMC is expanding into other markets such as Thailand and India.
The company already counts Nvidia and Deloitte among its key corporate partners. SMC is a preferred cloud partner of Nvidia for computing and AI and offers GPU clusters developed by the chip giant. In July, SMC announced a partnership with Deloitte that will give the consulting firm’s clients access to Nvidia’s GPU computing infrastructure to develop AI applications.
Governments and businesses have rushed to harness the transformative power of AI, and demand for data centers has skyrocketed as a result.
Countries like Singapore, where SMC is headquartered, are also trying to reduce huge energy consumption by pushing for “green” data centers to support their AI ambitions. The country has allocated more than 500 million Singapore dollars (US$379.7 million) for this purpose.
Sustainable Metal Cloud has received funding from Singaporean state investor Temasek, which backs ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, one of Asia’s largest data centre operators.
SMC is currently raising $400 million in equity and $550 million in debt. The funds will go towards expanding its data center beyond Singapore, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Liquid cooling is gaining momentum
Technology companies are increasingly turning to liquid cooling for their data centers because as performance demands increase, so does the risk of overheating.
Traditionally, data centers have large hallways to allow cooled air to circulate, as overheating can lead to equipment failure and downtime. In theory, liquid cooling should allow these facilities to fit more servers in their existing footprint.
Giordano Albertazzi, CEO of digital infrastructure provider Vertiv, told CNBC in June that liquid cooling adoption could gain momentum in 2024. Vertiv’s thermal management offerings include hybrid air and liquid cooling, as well as fully liquid-cooled data centers.
During Computex Taipei in June, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised the benefits of Supermicro’s direct liquid cooling technology, which he said saves energy and reduces costs in AI data centers.
To dissipate heat efficiently, the servers are immersed in oil in container-like “hypercubes”.
Supermicro CEO Charles Liang told CNBC in June that liquid cooling offers greater energy efficiency, resulting in better performance, less pollution and lower energy costs.
Despite all the fanfare, challenges remain in adopting liquid cooling, according to SMC’s Rosenfield.
“Most data centers are not ready for liquids of any kind, whether immersion or direct chip cooling. The market is looking for the best way to deploy this, and I think there will be several options,” Rosenfield said.
Vertiv’s Albertazzi said: “There is still a lot of air cooling going on in the data center, and that will continue to be the case in high-density AI data centers.”
