Nvidia has announced new AI servers using closed-loop liquid cooling to eliminate water consumption, addressing growing concerns about data centers' heavy water usage.

What happened

Nvidia announced on Monday that its newest AI servers will use liquid cooling with a water and propylene glycol coolant recirculated in a closed loop, which the company says requires no new water intake. The coolant can operate at temperatures up to 45°C (113°F), higher than previous systems that typically ran at 30°C.

Why it matters

Data center water consumption is a significant concern for residents near facilities, who have reported contaminated water and low water pressure. The UN predicted earlier this month that AI-related water consumption could equal the annual needs of 1.3 billion people by the end of the decade. Nvidia's approach, along with similar efforts by Microsoft (which announced in August 2024 that its new data centers will stop using water for cooling, saving more than 125 million liters of water per year per data center), represents an industry shift toward reducing environmental impact.

What to watch

The company estimates that a 50-megawatt hyperscale facility could save over $4 million（約6.4億円） a year in cooling-related energy and water costs by moving to liquid-cooled infrastructure. However, these systems are expensive, and Nvidia has not disclosed retrofitting plans for existing data centers or provided details on implementation costs.