LG Electronics (066570) has won formal recognition from Nvidia for the quality of its high-capacity cooling equipment designed for artificial intelligence data centers. The approval places the company among the leading candidates to supply cooling systems to Nvidia and marks a step up in its push into AI data center cooling as a new business.
LG Electronics said on Sept. 22 that its 2.5-megawatt coolant distribution unit (CDU) had been approved by Nvidia as a "DSX Ready" product. DSX Ready refers to a product category that Nvidia evaluates and certifies directly, confirming that the equipment meets the standards required for installation in an "AI factory" — a large-scale AI data center that Nvidia builds by integrating its graphics processing units with partner technologies in cooling, power, networking and operations.
The approval gives LG Electronics the opportunity to supply CDUs to Nvidia's AI factories. Industry officials said the company is particularly well positioned in the competition for actual orders, as only five CDUs at the 2.5-MW class have received DSX Ready approval, including LG Electronics' product.
A rack, the basic server unit that makes up an AI factory, draws about 120 kilowatts of power. Twenty racks amount to roughly 2.4 MW, a load that a single 2.5-MW CDU can handle. Of the more than 30 CDU products that have received DSX Ready approval, only five — including LG Electronics' — offer capacity at the 2.5-MW level. "Actual orders depend on Nvidia's decision, but technically the five products approved at the 2.5-MW class are in a favorable position," an industry official said.
The CDU is the core device in the liquid cooling solutions for AI data centers that LG Electronics is developing as a new business. It circulates coolant evenly inside a data center to directly cool the heat generated by AI chips, including GPUs. The company plans to target a range of Nvidia requirements with a lineup that spans the 600-kW and 1-MW CDUs it had previously won DSX Ready approval for, as well as the new 2.5-MW model.
Alongside CDUs, LG Electronics is advancing its technology across liquid cooling solutions, including high-efficiency chillers that supply large volumes of cold water, computer room air handlers (CRAH) and cold plates that remove heat directly from semiconductors. According to market research firm TrendForce, the adoption rate of liquid cooling solutions in AI data centers is expected to jump to 60% next year from 14% in 2024.
"With this approval under Nvidia's DSX standard, we will begin supplying more reliable and efficient cooling solutions to global big tech companies in earnest," said Lee Jae-sung, head of LG Electronics' ES Business Division. "We plan to secure leadership in the next-generation liquid cooling market."
