- Artificial intelligence leads to increasing energy demand of data centers worldwide
- New Power Supply Units (PSU) strengthen Infineon’s leading position in AI power supply based on Si, SiC and GaN
- Operators of AI data centers benefit from the world’s first 12 kW power supply unit thanks to higher energy efficiency, power density and reliability
The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving up the energy demand of data centres across the globe. This growing demand underscores the need for efficient and reliable energy supply for servers. Infineon Technologies AG is now opening a new chapter in the domain of energy supply for AI systems and unveiling a roadmap for power supply units (PSU) specifically designed to address the current and future energy needs of AI data centres while prioritizing energy efficiency.
By introducing unprecedented PSU performance classes, Infineon enables cloud data centre and AI server operators to reduce their energy consumption for system cooling. The innovative PSUs reduce power consumption and CO₂ emissions, resulting in lower lifetime operating costs. The powerful PSUs are not only used in the data centres of the future but can also replace existing power supply units in servers and increase efficiency.
In addition to the PSUs with an output of 3 kW and 3.3 kW already available, new 8 kW and 12 kW PSUs will contribute to further increasing energy efficiency in AI data centres in the near future. With the 12kW reference board, Infineon will soon offer the world’s first power supply unit that achieves this level of performance and supplies the data centres of the future with power.
“At Infineon, we power AI. We are addressing a critical question of our era – how to efficiently meet the escalating energy demands of data centres,” says Adam White, Division President Power & Sensor Systems at Infineon. “It’s a development that was only possible by Infineon’s expertise in integrating the three semiconductor materials silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) into a single module. Our PSU portfolio is therefore not only an example of Infineon’s innovative strength, which leads to first-class results in terms of performance, efficiency and reliability for data centres and the AI ecosystem. It also reinforces Infineon’s market leadership in power semiconductors.”
Infineon is responding to the requirements of data centre operators for higher system efficiency and lower downtimes. The growth of server and data centre applications has already led to an increase in power requirements, necessitating the development of power supplies with ever higher power ratings from 800 W up to 5.5 kW and beyond. This increase is driven by the increasing power requirements of Graphic Process Units (GPU) on which AI applications are computed.
High-level GPUs now require up to 1 kW per chip reaching 2 kW and more by the end of the decade. This will lead to higher overall energy demand for data centres. Depending on the scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that data centres will account for up to seven per cent of global electricity consumption by 2030; this is an order of magnitude comparable to India’s current electricity consumption.
The new PSUs from Infineon thus contribute to the efforts to limit the CO₂ footprint of AI data centres despite the rapidly growing energy requirements. This is made possible by a particularly high level of efficiency that minimizes power losses. Infineon’s new generation PSUs achieve an efficiency of 97.5 per cent and meet the strictest performance requirements. The new 8 kW PSU is capable of supporting AI racks with an output of up to 300 kW and more. Efficiency and power density are increased to 100 watts per in³ compared to 32 W/in³ in the already available 3 kW PSU, providing further benefits for the system size and cost savings for operators.
From a technical perspective, this is made possible by the unique combination of the three semiconductor materials Si, SiC and GaN. These technologies contribute to the sustainability and reliability of AI servers and data centre systems. Innovative semiconductors based on wide-bandgap materials such as SiC and GaN are the key to a conscious and efficient use of energy to drive decarbonization.
The 8 kW Power Supply Unit will be available in Q1 2025. For more information about the PSU roadmap, please visit www.infineon.com/AI-PSU
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