Usman Salis
⬤ At CES 2026, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang revealed that the company's new Rubin-generation Vera Rubin NVL72 GPU platform operates on 45-degree-Celsius liquid-loop cooling, eliminating the need for large-scale water chillers. Huang described this innovation as "basically cooling this supercomputer with hot water," positioning Rubin as the successor to Blackwell architecture.
⬤ The announcement triggered immediate market reactions as investors reconsidered the future demand for industrial cooling systems in AI data centers. Johnson Controls International shares plunged 11%, their worst single-day drop since 2022. Modine Manufacturing crashed 21%, while Carrier Global and Trane Technologies also declined. The market fears that warm-water loop technology could shift operators toward dry coolers and alternative heat-rejection systems, reducing dependence on traditional chiller plants.
⬤ Vera Rubin NVL72 systems utilize warm-water, single-phase direct liquid cooling with a 45-degree-Celsius supply temperature. Unlike conventional air-cooled data centers that consume massive energy moving and conditioning air, liquid cooling extracts heat far more efficiently. This reduces fan and chiller power requirements. Nvidia reports that Rubin nearly doubles liquid-flow rates compared to Blackwell at identical pressure levels, maintaining stable thermal performance during intensive AI workloads while cutting overall water consumption.
⬤ The Rubin NVL72 platform demonstrates how Nvidia is fundamentally transforming AI data-center thermal design and energy economics during a period of explosive compute growth. Widespread adoption of warm-water direct liquid cooling technology could dramatically reduce dependence on traditional chiller infrastructure, giving operators greater flexibility in designing and cooling large-scale AI environments.
Usman Salis
