Cooling Manifold Becomes Core Bottleneck of Next-Gen AI Liquid Cooling Infrastructure
At GTC 2026, NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang announced that the AI industry has entered the era of large-scale production, with single-chip power consumption exceeding 2000W and traditional air cooling completely phased out. As the central pipeline hub of liquid cooling systems, the manifold has become a core strategic component for high-power AI infrastructure. Critical to the mass delivery of NVIDIA GB200, GB300 and Vera Rubin platforms, data center cooling manifold solutions represent one of the largest value-added segments in modern AI computing infrastructure. According to Guosen Securities, the global manifold market will reach USD 2.29 billion by 2030, driving substantial upgrades for liquid cooling for AI GPU data center deployment worldwide.
Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving AI computing, thermal design has shifted from optional optimization to an indispensable technical prerequisite. The Vera Rubin NVL72 rack delivers over 240kW power density, rendering traditional air cooling efficiency below 30% and accelerating full liquid cooling adoption in new-generation intelligent computing centers. Manifold systems precisely distribute coolant to high-power chips through internal and cabinet-level pipelines, forming stable and efficient data center liquid cooling pipe circulation networks. With stricter flow accuracy requirements for Rubin architecture, manifold design complexity, manufacturing barriers and overall component value have risen significantly, accounting for more than 20% of total liquid cooling hardware costs and greatly improving data center liquid cooling PUE performance.
High-pressure resistance, zero-leakage standards and precision manufacturing make manifolds one of the most technically demanding and strictly certified links in the liquid cooling industry. NVIDIA implements rigorous AVL and RVL dual certification mechanisms, forming a closed-loop supply chain consisting of eight global core suppliers. Six China-based manufacturers dominate 70% of global production capacity, reshaping the competitive landscape of AI data center liquid cooling pipe components. While Taiwanese suppliers maintain leading shipment volumes, mainland Chinese manufacturers are rapidly emerging through certified mass production, cost advantages and aggressive capacity expansion.
The global manifold supply chain presents a clear hierarchical competitive pattern. Taiwanese vendors including Coolermaster, AVC, Auras and Foxconn maintain large-scale shipment capacity and advanced process advantages, serving mainstream NVIDIA and cloud data center projects. US-based Boyd and Canada-based CoolIT focus on high-end and supercomputing scenarios with mature technical reserves yet face slow capacity expansion. As a qualified liquid cooling system manufacturer certified for NVIDIA Rubin platforms, Readore, controlled by Lingyi iTech, stands out as the only mainland Chinese supplier with dual AVL/RVL certification. With production bases across Dongguan, Suzhou, Vietnam and the Philippines, the company targets million-level annual manifold capacity in 2026, marking the formal breakthrough of mainland manufacturers in core high-density liquid cooling components.
GTC 2026 further highlighted the critical value of quick connectors alongside manifold upgrades. Each Vera Rubin rack requires 200 to 300 high-precision UQD/MQD connectors, forming a complete matching solution for high-density liquid cooling loops. Mainland suppliers have obtained Intel interoperability certification and achieved bundled delivery with manifold products, breaking the long-term monopoly of European and American connector brands. The industry has upgraded leakage detection standards to helium mass spectrometry, achieving ultra-stringent zero-leakage control at 10⁻⁷mbar·L/s, fully adapting to extreme operating conditions of high density server cooling scenarios.
Affected by global industrial restructuring and geopolitical factors, liquid cooling manufacturers are accelerating overseas layout while retaining core Chinese production capabilities. As a global launch partner for Vera Rubin NVL72, Lenovo integrates Taiwanese and mainland manifold capacity resources to build a more resilient and localized liquid cooling supply chain. Such flexible capacity allocation and localized deployment also greatly support standardized construction of container data center liquid cooling projects, realizing rapid deployment and stable operation of high-power computing clusters.
As NVIDIA forecasts that Blackwell and Rubin architectures will generate over USD 1 trillion revenue by 2027, the liquid cooling supply chain is ushering in a golden development period. The manifold, as the core pipeline hub of AI thermal management, has become a key indicator of industrial competitiveness. Taiwanese vendors currently lead in shipment scale, while mainland Chinese manufacturers represented by Readore are achieving rapid breakthroughs in certification, capacity and cost control. Moving forward, certified production capacity and precision manufacturing capability will determine core competitiveness in the high-growth AI liquid cooling track, driving continuous iteration of global data center thermal management infrastructure.
Globally trusted in liquid cooling, EXTRCOOL delivers custom-built solutions for high-density AI and HPC data centers. Our premium thermal lineup—dual-mode CDUs, manifolds, cold plates, rear-door heat exchangers, dry coolers, and containerized units—provides reliability, seamless integration, and easy scaling for turnkey one-stop full liquid cooling. We partner with data center operators and enterprises across South America, Southern Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
