Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed 3D-printed copper plates to cool servers. The technology reduces energy consumption for climate control from 30% to 1.1% of the total. In a 1 GW data center, the savings reach 539 MW, a key figure for the increasingly energy-hungry AI industry. ⚡
Optimized design with complex internal channels 🧊
The copper plates are manufactured using 3D printing, which allows for the creation of internal channels with geometries impossible in traditional processes. These conduits distribute the liquid coolant more efficiently, extracting heat directly from the processors. The improvement is substantial: residual cooling energy drops from 550 to just 11 MW per installed gigawatt, a change that drastically reduces operational costs.
Now your servers will sweat copper (and not electricity bills) 🔥
While AI writes poems and generates images of astronaut cats, the data centers that power it are melting like ice cream in the sun. Luckily, these researchers have made servers sweat copper instead of electricity. So, if your cloud bill goes down, you know who to thank: some plates with more curves than a Formula 1 circuit.