Why the immediate future of liquid cooling is hybrid

AI is increasing the heat and power density of data centre workloads, making air-only cooling impractical for many advanced computing racks. The article argues that hybrid systems, combining direct liquid cooling with air cooling, are likely to be the practical approach as operators add AI capacity to existing facilities.

Air cooling is described as viable up to about 20 to 40 kW per rack, while current GPU racks often run from 40 kW to above 100 kW, with future systems expected to reach 200 kW or more. The article says direct liquid cooling transfers heat far more effectively and can keep processor temperatures lower, but mixing technologies brings operational demands such as fluid management, leak detection and specialist maintenance. It cites an Uptime Institute finding that nearly two-thirds of operators struggle to hire and retain qualified staff.