Munters launches LCX liquid-to-liquid CDU

• Munters has launched a new cooling distribution unit (CDU).The company has developed the LCX family of liquid-to-liquid CDUs to supplement its existing liquid-to-refrigerant CDU product known as SyCool LCE.

• Designed to reject heat from liquid-cooled servers, the new CDU is engineered for large-scale liquid-cooled deployments.

• Currently available in sizes from 500kW to 1.5MW, Munters said the modular units include a “novel capability” to stack units to reduce floor space.

• Service access on standard models is from the front, allowing CDUs to be installed side-by-side with 1" (25mm) spacing between.

• The company said the product supports heat rejection from single-phase cold plates, in-rack CDUs, immersion pod heat exchangers, and more.

Airedale by Modine unveils expanded capacities for coolant distribution units

• Modine, a diversified global leader in innovative thermal management solutions, has announced expanded capacities for its range of coolant distribution units (CDUs) sold under its Airedale by Modine brand.

• The expanded CDU range comes in response to increasing demand for high-performance, high-efficiency hybrid (air & liquid) cooling solutions from the global data center industry.

• The Airedale CDU, launched initially as a 1MW unit, is now available in capacities from 400kW to 2MW as part of a global, standardized range manufactured in the US and Europe. Airedale also announced that delivering even larger capacity units is possible via engineered-to-order, skid-mounted designs.

• Airedale by Modine will exhibit on Stand DC155 at Data Center World, Excel London, from March 12 to 13, 2025, and delegates will be able to experience the coolant distribution unit at the booth.

Lenovo unveils ThinkEdge SE100 AI inferencing server at MWC

• Lenovo has unveiled its new ThinkEdge SE100 AI inferencing server at Mobile World Congress.

• In a statement, the company said the offering was the “first-to-market, entry-level AI inferencing server,” designed to make Edge AI accessible and affordable.

• The SE100 forms part of Lenovo’s family of new ThinkSystem V4 servers and supports hybrid cloud deployments and machine learning for AI tasks like object detection and text recognition.

• Powered by Intel Xeon 6 processors, the server also contains the company’s new Neptune liquid cooling technology, Neptune Core Compute Complex Module, which, according to Lenovo, supports faster workloads with reduced fan speeds, resulting in quieter operations and lower power consumption.

• The SE100 is also 85 percent smaller than a standard 1U server, making it the “most compact AI-ready Edge solution on the market,” and has also been designed to stay under 140W, even at its fullest GPU-equipped configuration.

TSMC announces $100bn US chip fab investment

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has announced plans to invest some $100 billion into US chip manufacturing.

• US President Donald Trump called the pledge a “tremendous move by the most powerful company in the world.” It appears to be in addition to an existing $65bn investment in semiconductor fabs in Phoenix, Arizona.

• TSMC is building three factories in Arizona, backed by CHIPS Act funding. Where the new fabs will be built was not disclosed.

• The Taiwanese company is set to receive around $11.6bn in CHIPS Act funding - $6.6bn in grants and $5bn in loans - which could be at risk from Trump.

• The White House is also believed to have suggested that TSMC take over Intel's manufacturing business.

GTC is coming back to San Jose on March 17–21, 2025

• GTC is coming back to San Jose on March 17–21, 2025. Join thousands of developers, innovators, and business leaders to experience how AI and accelerated computing are helping humanity solve our most complex challenges.

• From the must-see keynote by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to over 1000 inspiring sessions, 400+ exhibits, technical hands-on training, and tons of unique networking events, GTC is the place to explore real-world examples of AI and its benefits.

OpenAI and Oracle to deploy 64,000 GB200 GPUs at Stargate Abilene data center by 2026

• OpenAI and Oracle are expected to deploy 64,000 Nvidia GB200s at the Stargate data center in Abilene, Texas by the end of 2026.

• The news comes a week after Nvidia revealed it would be providing its Spectrum-X ethernet networking platform for the first Stargate data centers.

• Stargate is a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Abu Dhabi‘s MGX to deploy a number of large data centers across the US. The project is currently set to be built out over four years, with OpenAI aiming to develop five to ten campuses, each able to support 1GW of capacity or more.

• However, OpenAI is also reportedly exploring other Stargate data center options in 16 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

• Elon Musk’s xAI Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee, also uses Nvidia Spectrum-X for its Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) network and was recently reported to be considering building a second data center to house $5bn worth of GB200 AI servers from Dell Technologies.

SK Telecom partners with Elice, Schneider, Giga Computing for AI data centers

• SK embraces modular AI data centers with Elice

  At MWC, SK Telecom signed a business agreement for cooperation in the field of AI data center modularity with South Korean firm Elice Group.

  Elice also offers access to GPUs from Nvidia and NPUs from FuriosaAI – with hardware from another vendor, Rebellions, on the roadmap.

• SK explores liquid cooling with Giga

  This week also saw SK Telecom sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Giga Computing and SK Enmove to jointly develop next-generation cooling solutions.

  The three companies will collaborate on R&D efforts validating technologies to optimize liquid cooling performance and developing artificial intelligence data center solutions.

  SK Telecom has previously partnered with Iceotope on testing liquid cooling tech.

• SK joins up with Schneider on M&E for AI

  This week also saw SK Telecom announce a strategic partnership with Schneider Electric.

  The partners will collaborate on mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems for artificial intelligence data centers (AIDCs).

• SK partners with IonQ on quantum

  SK Telecom is also partnering with quantum computing firm IonQ. Under the MoU signed this week, the telco plans to integrate IonQ’s quantum computing technology with its own AI capabilities – including its Personal AI Agent (PAA) services such as A. (A-DoT) and Aster (A*), AI data centers (AIDC), GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), and Edge AI.

55H announces data center expansion in Ontario, Canada

• 55H has announced a phased expansion of its data center capacity in Brampton, Ontario. At the 55 Hereford Street site, the expansion will deliver 20MW of IT capacity in three stages to meet the growing demands of AI clients.

• The expansion is in partnership with Core Data Centers. The facility spans 215,000 sq ft and is located just outside Toronto. 55H said it can support up to 130kW per rack with liquid cooling solutions.

• The site was formerly an enterprise facility operated by Canadian food retailer Loblaw Companies Limited. It is adjacent to a Loblaw office building, and the company has an Uptime Certificate for a Tier III facility in Brampton.

• Toronto, in the province of Ontario, is home to the likes of Digital Realty, Hut 8, Cologix, Telehouse, Centersquare, EdgeConneX, Coloware, Cogent, Ascent, Stack, Microsoft, Compass, Exa Infrastructure, and Equinix.

LG Sinar Mas breaks ground on data center in Jakarta, Indonesia

• LG Sinar Mas has broken ground on a data center in Jakarta, Indonesia.The company is a joint venture between LG CNS, a South Korean data center service provider, and PT SMPlus Digital Investment, a digital infrastructure platform backed by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas.

• Announced in a LinkedIn post, SM+ said the SMX01 facility will open in 2026 and will be optimized for AI and high-density workloads featuring liquid cooling and reliable power.

• The IT capacity of SMX01 has not been shared, but a previous report about the scheme in Korea Economic Daily suggested it would offer an initial 18MW.

• Sinar Mas, which owns businesses in a wide range of markets, has previously partnered with K2 Data Centres to develop facilities in Jakarta.

Google launches cloud region in Sweden

• Google has launched a new cloud region outside Stockholm, Sweden. Plans for a Swedish cloud region were first announced in 2022. The new region – listed as Stockholm (Europe-north2) – is Google’s 42nd globally and 13th in Europe.

• Google acquired 109 hectares of land in the Dalarna region of Sweden, 160 kilometers northwest of Stockholm, in 2017. The company said at the time it had acquired the land as a potential data center location, but had no immediate plans to use it.

• Sweden’s Land and Environment Court at Nacka District Court granted Google subsidiary DSC International AB permission for a data center in Dalarna’s Avesta municipality in 2021.

• Google secured its first Swedish Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in 2013, and has since signed additional long-term agreements totaling more than 700MW of onshore wind projects in the country.

Edged announces 13MW data center outside Des Moines, Iowa

• Data center firm Edged is developing a new facility outside Des Moines, Iowa. The company this week announced a new data center in Ankeny in Polk County, to the north of Des Moines.

• Edged will break ground on the project in Q2 of 2025, and construction is slated to last 24 months. The company said it aims to invest $187 million in the project.

• Reports that Edged was looking to develop a campus in the area surfaced last year, with plans for a two-building campus. Ankeny City Council members unanimously approved a development agreement with Edged earlier this week for the project.

• The company said the modular system supports densities of up to 70kW per rack with air cooling and 200kW per rack with plug-and-play liquid cooling integration.

• The company noted it will be investing in water and sewer extensions to serve the site. These utility extensions will also serve an additional 120 acres in the immediate area, which Edged said will open up more land for new development.

• It currently has data centers either operating or in development in Madrid and Barcelona in Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and across the US, including Missouri, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and Illinois.