LG Electronics has become the first South Korean company to receive quality certification for NVIDIA’s liquid cooling solution. This milestone is set to accelerate LG’s strategy in the global artificial intelligence (AI) data center market.
On Monday, LG Electronics announced it had recently obtained final quality certification from NVIDIA for its 600-kilowatt (kW) cooling distribution unit (CDU).
The CDU is a critical component in AI data center liquid cooling systems. It regulates the temperature and flow of coolant circulating within servers, effectively transferring heat generated by graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) to the external environment.
With the recent integration of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-performance GPUs in AI data centers, server power density and heat output have skyrocketed. Consequently, direct liquid cooling systems, which cool chips directly, have gained importance alongside traditional air-cooling systems that manage overall data center temperatures.
LG’s CDU employs a Direct-to-Chip approach, circulating coolant through cold plates attached to GPUs and CPUs for immediate heat removal. This method enhances cooling efficiency when combined with existing air-cooling systems.
The product boasts precise temperature control within ±0.25 degrees, virtual sensor technology, and leak detection capabilities. It has also proven its reliability in NVIDIA’s fault response tests by automatically switching to backup devices without interrupting cooling operations.
This certification officially validates LG’s capability to manage heat in NVIDIA server racks effectively. Given that NVIDIA GPU-based servers have become the de facto standard in the AI data center market, NVIDIA certification is a crucial benchmark for entering the global hyperscaler supply chain.
Leveraging this certification, LG Electronics plans to expand its presence in the megawatt (MW) AI data center market. The company aims to secure NVIDIA certification for its entire lineup of high-capacity CDUs, including 1 MW, 2.5 MW, and 4 MW models.
Additionally, LG is accelerating the development of a comprehensive Chip to Chiller solution. This total solution will cover the entire thermal management process for AI data centers, from chillers that produce large volumes of coolant to CDUs that distribute it, and cold plates that directly absorb heat from semiconductor chips.
LG Electronics is also ramping up its supply efforts. The company is actively pursuing CDU supply for LG CNS’s AI data center design, construction, and operation (DBO) projects, as well as modular AI data center initiatives.
Furthermore, LG is expanding its portfolio by providing cooling solutions to global data centers, including projects for North American hyperscalers and the Sinarmas data center in Indonesia. The company is leveraging its HVAC expertise, honed through work with nuclear power plants and large hospitals.
According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global AI data center market is projected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 26%, potentially reaching 133.5 billion USD by 2034.
Lee Jae-sung, President of LG Electronics’ ES Business Division, stated that the importance of liquid cooling solutions in the AI data center market is rapidly increasing. Leveraging LG’s proprietary cooling technology and the ONE LG integrated infrastructure, it aims to lead the global market as a total solution provider for AI data centers.