One of the biggest PR challenges currently facing Silicon Valley is the sizable ecological impact of building new AI systems; just this morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft has inked a new deal with Chevron to build a sprawling new data center in West Texas powered by natural gas. Now, Nvidia is claiming to have effectively removed at least one major component of the AI industry’s environmental footprint: its dependency on local water supplies.
Traditionally, the bulk of data centers’ water usage comes from keeping the AI chips housed within from overheating as they perform their constant, energy-demanding computations. Nvidia says its breakthrough lies in a new, “closed-loop” cooling system, which recycles a liquid coolant made of three-quarters water and one-quarter propylene glycol—a chemical recipe similar to that used for the antifreeze that goes into a car’s engine. Crucially, the coolant can remain operational at temperatures of up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. (For context, that’s significantly hotter than the temperature limit manufacturers build into hot tubs.) That means that Nvidia DSX data centers can avoid overheating without the huge amounts of water and fans that are typically required, all of which adds up to lower operational costs and a reduced ecological footprint.
