AI NewsWaveLG Uplus and Korea Ecolab to Develop Operating Standard for AI Data Center Liquid Cooling
Key points
- LG Uplus and Korea Ecolab sign MOU on optimizing cooling operations
- Plan covers everything from coolant management to equipment fault detection
- Operating standard for liquid cooling as AI servers run hotter
LG Uplus will work with Korea Ecolab, the Korean unit of global water treatment solutions company Ecolab, to develop an operating standard for liquid cooling in AI data centers (AIDCs). According to TheElec, EBN and Korea NGO News (한국NGO신문), the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on optimizing AI data center cooling system operations at LG Uplus' Yongsan office in Seoul on Oct. 27, and AI Times and Digital Daily reported that this was announced on Oct. 28.
Rising heat from AI servers was cited as the background. Industry News (인더스트리뉴스) reported that, in response to higher heat output from high-performance AI servers, the plan is to jointly verify coolant management and equipment monitoring technology and improve data center operating stability. Datanet explained that heat management has become important in data centers as AI inference demand grows and GPU servers become denser.
Outlets described the cooperation slightly differently. TheElec reported that the goal is to build an integrated operating system covering everything from coolant management to equipment fault detection. Korea NGO News reported that the companies plan to verify the technology at the Pyeongchon 2 Center and build a system for coolant management and AI-based predictive maintenance.
The outlets also differed on who they highlighted. AI Times introduced LG Uplus CEO Hong Bum-shik, and Datanet introduced Korea Ecolab CEO Ryu Yang-kwon. Techworld News reported the agreement with Korea Ecolab as the subject and gave the venue as LG Uplus' headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
News of cooperation on AI data center cooling continued over the past 14 days. Digital Daily reported on Oct. 23 that Dassault Systemes and Vertiv will validate power and cooling infrastructure for AI factories in a virtual environment first. Datanet reported that Autec Carrier signed an MOU with B-lab on supplying AIDC cooling solutions, and VentureSquare reported that DataBean will jointly develop AI edge data center cooling technology with Korea South-East Power using a power plant's seawater cooling facilities. Techworld News reported that Supermicro unveiled a 100% liquid-cooled rack with 256 Nvidia Vera CPUs.
Glossary Liquid cooling is a method of removing heat from servers and GPUs using liquid instead of air. Predictive maintenance analyzes equipment status data to identify when servicing is needed before a breakdown occurs.