LG Electronics (066570) and GS E&C (006360), already partners in the residential artificial intelligence market, are expanding their alliance into immersion cooling, a technology emerging as critical for data centers.
LG Electronics said on the 14th that it signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with GS E&C and U.S. immersion cooling company GRC on the 13th at GS E&C headquarters in Seoul's Jongno district. The agreement covers the development of data center immersion cooling technology and related equipment technology, as well as cooperation between the parties. Attendees included Oh Se-ki, head of LG Electronics' Eco Solution research center; Cho Seong-han, head of GS E&C's Future Technology Institute; and Choi Dong-hoon, country manager of GRC Korea.
The three companies will develop and verify immersion cooling technology for high-performance AI data centers, and will secure integrated solutions and standard designs for building data centers that use the technology. Immersion cooling is a new technology that submerges AI servers directly in a specialized liquid coolant to dissipate heat. As the technology advances, it is expected to deliver greater cooling performance than conventional methods that remove heat by circulating air or liquid.
LG Electronics plans to provide cooling technology it developed in-house to its partners. The company is entering the immersion cooling business on the back of a range of liquid cooling technologies, including high-efficiency chillers that produce large volumes of cold water, fan wall units that supply cold air stably and discharge heat efficiently, coolant distribution units, and cold plates that absorb heat directly from chips.
Last month, LG Electronics also agreed to jointly develop immersion cooling technology and next-generation refrigerants with SK Enmove. Since October last year, it has been conducting immersion cooling demonstrations with SK Enmove and GRC at its chiller plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, broadening domestic and overseas cooperation for the business.
Under the new partnership, GS E&C will create standard architectural designs for AI data centers and handle proof-of-concept verification covering the layout of immersion cooling equipment, structural loads, piping and power connections. GRC will supply immersion tanks and control technology, and will focus on improving system performance based on data from equipment installation, operation and maintenance.
The agreement extends the AI cooperation between LG Electronics and GS E&C beyond AI homes to AI data centers. The two companies are already working together to bring LG Electronics' home robot LG Cloid and its AI home platform ThinQ ON into apartment complexes under GS E&C's Xi brand.
"To take an early lead in the fast-growing market for AI data center cooling solutions, we will continue research and development on high-performance, high-efficiency cooling solutions," Oh said.