Liquid cooling

The harder a chip works, the hotter it gets, and if it gets too hot it slows down or breaks. Older data centers cooled servers by blowing cold air. But AI chips give off so much heat in such a small space that air alone has become hard to rely on. A liquid carries heat away far better than air.

There are two main methods. One puts a metal plate on the chip and runs cool liquid through it, and it is widely used in AI servers. The other is immersion cooling, which dips the whole server into a liquid that does not conduct electricity. The burdens are keeping the pipes from leaking and installing new equipment.

It is the same idea as cooling a hot pot. Plunging it into cold water is much faster than fanning it.

AI chips give off more heat with each generation, so cooling technology now decides whether a data center can be built. That is why makers of cooling equipment appear in AI news.