AI Data Center Liquid Cooling Rubin Ends Air Cooling in China
2026 marks the mandatory era of full liquid cooling. NVIDIA’s Rubin platform has completely phased out traditional air cooling, triggering a dramatic reshuffle in the AI data center liquid cooling industry and a shift in supply chain power. As a professional liquid cooling supplier in China, we focus on serving the USA, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, China and other regions, providing high-quality data center liquid cooling system solutions.
As a cloud infrastructure executive noted, the transition is not partial water supplementation for air cooling, but a total removal of air cooling from server cabinets. Unveiled at CES, the Rubin platform features 100% liquid cooled server design with no fans, supporting 45°C warm water inlet. Single GPU power consumption reaches 1800W to 2300W, making server cooling liquid a must-have rather than an option for high-end computing. With skyrocketing chip power density, air cooling can no longer meet physical heat dissipation limits. High-end AI training and inference AIDCs in China and North America fully adopt liquid cooling data center solutions, while air cooling is only used in edge and low-power scenarios. Rubin has rewritten industry rules, driving large-scale deployment of data center liquid cooling system with NVIDIA, Google and major cloud providers.
Rubin abandons the previous discrete small cold plate design, adopting an integrated large heat spreader covering GPU, HBM, CPU and power modules. This reduces connectors and leakage risks, upgrading liquid cooling from HVAC engineering to high-precision manufacturing. Ultra-flat micron-level contact surfaces and internal micro-channels impose strict requirements on materials, welding and sealing, fueling demand for high density cooling. Industry value has shifted from pipelines and quick connectors to large cold plates, CDU and manifold modules. Dominance now lies in integrated data center thermal system solutions. Three enterprise types are emerging: high-precision manufacturers with massive CNC capacity, system integrators offering turnkey data center solutions, and industrial component suppliers specializing in heat exchangers and pumps. Our company, with over 115MW experience in liquid cooling scheme design, provides one-stop customized services for global clients.
A global hundred-billion capacity race is underway. Demand has shifted from single components to whole-cabinet and full data center delivery. Integrated solution providers hold dominant advantages, while small component makers can only serve as secondary suppliers. Chinese manufacturers seize opportunities, leveraging precision fabrication, data center delivery experience and automotive-grade technology to compete for global water cooled server orders. The thermal track is restructuring. Traditional air cooling vendors are marginalized in high-end AIDCs; component-only liquid cooling players face fierce competition. Platform enterprises mastering large cold plates, CDU and system delivery will lead the new industrial infrastructure. Cooling has become the primary constraint of computing power systems.
The trillion-yuan thermal track is reshaped by full liquid cooling. Players capable of stable high density cooling for AI computing will share future AI dividends. We sincerely welcome partners from USA, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, China and Central Asia to negotiate cooperation on AI data center liquid cooling projects.
Upcoming Event: The 2nd Global AI Data Center Liquid Cooling Supply Chain Summit will be held in Shenzhen, China on May 21-22, 2026. Gather 1,000 industry experts with 60+ speeches, covering ultra-high density liquid cooling, cold plate & immersion technology, CDU development and chip thermal management, promoting collaboration in data center liquid cooling system and AI data center liquid cooling.
EXTRCOOL delivers purpose-built, high-efficiency liquid cooling solutions for high-density AI and HPC data centers, covering air-to-liquid/liquid-to-liquid CDUs, versatile manifolds, cold plates, rear door heat exchangers, dry coolers, and containerized systems. Optimized for reliability, scalability, and seamless integration, our products enable full liquid cooling deployments worldwide, supporting clients across the USA, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, China, and Central Asia.
