Nvidia's Rubin data centers use liquid cooling to slash water consumption

Nvidia is touting its Rubin-generation data center reference design as a solution to one of AI infrastructure's thorniest environmental challenges: water consumption. The company claims the fully liquid-cooled approach can reduce water usage "from roughly 2.6 million gallons per megawatt per year for conventional cooling-tower-based systems to near zero — up to a 100 percent reduction," according to Nvidia's head of sustainability, Josh Parker.

The efficiency comes from two key design choices: 100 percent liquid cooling and higher operating temperatures. Rather than relying on traditional air cooling, heat is captured directly at the chip level and transported through liquid loops running at temperatures as high as 113°F (45°C). This approach allows outdoor dry coolers to reject heat more efficiently throughout the year, providing greater flexibility around ambient air temperatures.

What this addresses—and what it doesn't#

The move reflects mounting pressure on data center operators over energy and resource consumption. Nvidia claims that "every cloud provider and data center operator building for [Rubin] is making the transition," suggesting broad industry adoption.

However, critics note the strategy doesn't address all environmental concerns around AI infrastructure. Construction impacts, power generation requirements for massive facilities, and the upfront cost of transitioning to liquid-cooled systems remain open questions. As reported elsewhere, Nvidia's announcement hasn't detailed the capital investment differences between this approach and conventional air cooling.

Amazon has similarly highlighted higher heat tolerance as part of its efficiency improvements, suggesting this temperature-aggressive trend is spreading across the sector.

Read more: The Verge's full report