On March 17, Reuters reported that people familiar with the matter said that a procurement team from Google visited mainland China and negotiated with Shenzhen Invic Technology and other mainland Chinese companies to purchase data center liquid cooling equipment. Liquid cooling systems, which circulate water or other liquids around or over equipment, have become critical in AI data centers as high-density computing generates more heat than traditional air-cooling systems can handle.
People familiar with the matter said that this procurement team comes from Google’s Taiwan business.They visited the mainland this month, reflecting the tight supply of liquid cooling system components. The Google team has met with Invic during its visit to the mainland and plans to engage with at least one other Chinese company.
These negotiations highlight that the global competition for AI data center infrastructure construction has not only tightened the supply of advanced chips, but also tightened the supply of lower-value equipment. It also shows that Chinese suppliers are playing an increasingly important role in the development of global data centers.
According to a report from JPMorgan Chase,Driven by demand from Nvidia and cloud service providers deploying customized AI chips, the global AI server liquid cooling system market size is expected to surge from US$8.9 billion last year to more than US$17 billion in 2026.
As of press time, Google and Invic have not commented on this matter.