Vertiv

Recent news

• Jul 7, 2026

  Generate Capital's Sven Semmelmann joins OpenAI as head of compute capital markets

  OpenAI has announced that Sven Semmelmann will join as head of compute capital markets.

  • Semmelmann is joining OpenAI from Generate Capital, where he spent six years as head of structured finance; he will lead capital markets strategy for AI infrastructure and support OpenAI’s expanding global compute platform.
  • OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said Semmelmann will develop the financing solutions and partnerships needed for OpenAI’s infrastructure plans; the company also noted it has about $1.4 trillion in compute-related spending commitments over the next eight years and has filed a confidential draft registration statement for a potential IPO.
  • The article also references Generate Capital’s investments in Soluna, a partnership with Vertiv, support for esVolta, and a bad investment in Pine Gate that led to layoffs, but these are background details rather than the main announcement.
• Jul 2, 2026

  AWS in-row heat exchanger to reduce water use by 9% over evaporative air-cooled data centers

  Amazon has detailed new sustainability measures for AWS and its global data centers in its annual sustainability report.

  • The company said its In-Row Heat Exchanger (IRHX) captures heat directly from high-density AI hardware at the rack, and that adding more AI racks with IRHX should deliver a 9% reduction in water use versus evaporative air-cooled data centers once fully operational.
  • Amazon said it is expanding liquid-to-chip cooling in both new and existing data centers, scaling smart-metering to detect leaks, and reported that its data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025 while reducing cooling water use by 938 million liters.
  • The report also said 31 data centers had on-site water treatment, 26 used reclaimed water for cooling, 14 had rainwater collection systems, and Amazon has contracted 13 utilities to supply reclaimed water for 130 data centers, saving 6 billion liters of fresh water annually.
• Jun 12, 2026

  From Components to AI Factories: Peter Panfil Says the Future of Data Centers Is All About Integration at Scale

  Vertiv’s Peter Panfil presented a keynote at the 2026 7x24 Exchange Spring Conference outlining a vision to treat data centers as integrated “AI factories” that prioritize execution velocity, factory-assembled high-density modules, and outcomes-oriented metrics.

  • Main announcement: Vertiv (Peter Panfil) advocated for integrated, factory-produced HAC “hacks” as repeatable building blocks to accelerate deployment and reduce on-site integration. He noted a rapid module evolution from ~1.5 MW (a year ago) to ~6 MW current modules, with discussions already underway around 12 MW configurations; modules are now being assembled and fully tested in factories (including fluid charging and capacity validation) to enable plug-and-play site installation and faster commissioning.
  • Supporting details: Panfil proposed replacing traditional efficiency metrics with tokens-per-dollar-per-watt (debated/refined to tokens per watt per dollar), emphasized behavioral modeling/digital twins (example: coolant excursion reduced from ~9°C to ~3°C with modest buffering), and highlighted energy strategies including BYOP/on-site generation, UPS smoothing for grid stability, and community acceptance measures (waste heat reuse, grid support).
• Jun 9, 2026

  Vulnerabilities discovered in Trane, Vertiv data center products

  Claroty’s Team82 has identified vulnerabilities in Trane Tracer SC+ HVAC controllers and Vertiv Liebert IS-UNITY-DP network cards.

  • Main announcement: Claroty (Team82) released research reporting that unauthenticated attackers could disrupt HVAC and UPS/power management operations, potentially causing service degradation, outages, or hardware damage; Vertiv’s Liebert IS-UNITY-DP vulnerabilities were scored 9.8 CVSSv3 and Vertiv recommends Liebert RDU101 and IS-UNITY firmware updates, while Trane recommends updating Tracer SC+ to v6.3 or later.
  • Background / details: The Tracer SC+ issues involve multiple unauthenticated API routes exposing device and downstream device information (including BACnet and LonTalk-connected devices) enabling reconnaissance, lateral movement, or direct manipulation; Vertiv network card flaws could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or issue an ‘output OFF’ command to shut down UPS-powered devices; both vendors have been informed and published mitigations in Team82 reports.
• May 26, 2026

  How Power Electronics Cut Generator Run Hours in AI-Scale Data Centers

  DatacenterKnowledge reports that advanced power electronics and battery systems can substantially reduce diesel-generator run hours at AI-scale data centers while preserving uptime.

  • Main announcement/action: DataCenterKnowledge outlines a shift from a “diesel-first” resilience model to a diesel-last approach using grid-forming inverters, AI-capable UPS, high-voltage DC (800 VDC) architectures, and Universal Damping STATCOMs; specific reported capabilities include ON.energy’s 3.5 MW AI UPS units (reported ~3 GW in operation or construction) offering 1–8 hours of backup, and Dimaag.ai’s 800 VDC Zenius + Zifer system presented to ERCOT (April 24, 2026) for evaluation.
  • Background and details: The article references a 2025 Virginia grid fault with an aggregate loss of about 1.5 GW that triggered generator activations; Ramboll’s Universal Damping (UD) STATCOM is proposed as a software-upgrade approach to damp oscillations; Eaton’s Power Xpert 9395P with EnergyAware was tested at Microsoft’s Innovation Center in Boydton, Virginia and evaluated by PJM; Vertiv’s EnergyCore Grid BESS is UL9540A-tested for mission-critical use.
• May 12, 2026

  Cowtown Angels Portfolio Co. Strategic Thermal Labs Acquired by Ohio-Based Vertiv

  Vertiv has acquired Georgetown-based Strategic Thermal Labs (STL), integrating STL’s chip-level liquid-cooling expertise into Vertiv’s thermal-chain strategy.

  • Acquisition announced: Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) acquired Strategic Thermal Labs (STL); STL contributes cold-plate design, server-side liquid cooling, and high-density thermal validation capabilities to strengthen Vertiv’s thermal-chain interface for AI and high-performance computing environments. Cowtown Angels (TechFW) participated in STL’s April 2024 seed round (led by Carrier Ventures; included Cowtown Sidecar Fund-I). Article date: May 12, 2026.
  • Background & details: STL was founded in 2014. Vertiv said the deal improves its ability to simulate and emulate high-density compute conditions, optimize thermal and power-train interaction, and support customers across design, integration, commissioning, and lifecycle operations. Quotes included from Caitlin McMinn (TechFW) and Scott Armul (Vertiv).
• May 12, 2026 · Outsourcing Today

  Romania can become the “new Norway” in the data center industry. The strategic window for attracting major AI investments is 12 months

  Tema Energy and DataCenter Forum Romania participants announced that Romania has a ~12-month window to attract AI and hyperscale data center investments and can provide up to 500 MW almost immediately.

  • Main announcement/action:Tema Energy and forum speakers declared a strategic opportunity: Romania can leverage uncongested grid zones to offer up to 500 MW almost immediately and has roughly 12 months to attract major AI/hyperscale investments; an initial anchor project of >100 MW (example: ClusterPower in Craiova) was cited as a potential catalyst, with realistic project implementation timelines of 18–20 months.
  • Background and details: The forum (DataCenter Forum Romania 2026) featured speakers from NVIDIA and Accelerated Infrastructure Capital (AIC); data centers currently represent 0.2% of Romania’s electricity use (vs 6% Netherlands, 24% Ireland). The article referenced Norway’s Stargate Narvik (~230 MW renewable target, ~100,000 NVIDIA GPUs) as a comparative model and emphasized needs such as liquid cooling, renewables + storage, and rapid grid connections.
• May 5, 2026

  New Data Center Developments: May 2026

  Data Center Knowledge published a monthly roundup highlighting global data center project announcements, regulatory moves, and investment commitments driven by hyperscale AI demand.

  • Main announcement: The roundup catalogs multiple concrete project actions including Aligned Data Centers’ Project Caprock (540 MW, 313-acre campus in Hale County, Texas; initial delivery Q1 2027), EdgeCore’s completion of $1.5 billion in financing for two Northern Virginia hyperscale centers, and Yondr Group energizing a 27 MW Toronto facility expected in mid-2026. It also notes major investment commitments such as Digital Realty’s near S$7 billion Singapore plan (S$4.3 billion for new data centers) and AWS increasing planned investment in Mississippi to $25 billion.
  • Context and details: The piece outlines parallel regulatory updates in U.S. states (Maine vetoed a moratorium; Wisconsin revised We Energies tariff rules; North Carolina advanced legislation to require hyperscalers to cover infrastructure costs), workforce and partnership initiatives (Equinix Foundation with ODATA, Cisco, Vertiv launching training in Brazil, cohorts mid-2026), and other regional projects and financings (TikTok €1 billion Finland site; Ark Data Centres >€600 million Barcelona project; Equinix land purchases in South Africa totaling ZAR 890 million).
• Apr 28, 2026 · IT Brief Asia

  Vertiv acquires Strategic Thermal Labs in cooling push

  Vertiv has announced it has acquired Strategic Thermal Labs.

  • Main announcement: Vertiv has acquired Strategic Thermal Labs to expand its engineering capabilities in liquid cooling for dense computing systems, adding expertise in cold-plate design, server-side liquid cooling, and thermal validation; the business will support customers through design, integration, commissioning and ongoing operations.
  • Background and details: The acquisition strengthens Vertiv’s thermal-chain strategy to manage heat from chips through supporting infrastructure; Vertiv is based in Westerville, Ohio and operates in more than 130 countries. The company said the transaction will not change its support for open, interoperable infrastructure and aims to improve simulation/emulation of dense compute conditions.
• Apr 21, 2026

  Data Center World 2026: As AI Scale Surges, a Call to Build for Legacy

  Data Center World 2026 opened in Washington, D.C., bringing industry leaders together under the theme “Innovation at Scale” to address rapid growth, sustainability, and energy challenges.

  • Event details & key announcements: The conference theme is “Innovation at Scale”; speakers included Bill Kleyman (AFCOM), Maxine Holt and Vlad Galabov (Omdia), Joe Kava (AFCOM Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, former Google VP of Data Centers), Scott Armul (Vertiv), Amber Caramella (Netrality), and Phill Lawson-Shanks (Aligned Data Centers). Omdia projected global IT spend of $6.07 trillion in 2026 (up 10% on 2025) and highlighted hyperscale/neocloud investments; Omdia’s Vlad Galabov referenced a prior $1.6 trillion figure for 2030 and a prediction the data center market would surpass $1.9 trillion. The conference foregrounded energy concerns, including projections that data centers could account for up to 17% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030.
  • Context, technical details & follow-ups: Speakers discussed concrete infrastructure approaches: SMRs, nuclear fusion, microgrids, extreme rack densities (GPU racks approaching 1 MW in a traditional rack footprint), and the need for new substation/reference designs. Community engagement and public perception were highlighted as immediate implementation issues, and Joe Kava received AFCOM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The article is a conference report/summary (announcement of the event and recaps of remarks), not a primary policy or procurement announcement.
• Apr 21, 2026

  Meta reserves up to 100GWh of US ‘multi-day’ energy storage startup Noon Energy’s technology

  Noon Energy has announced an agreement with Meta to reserve up to 1GW/100GWh of long-duration energy storage (LDES) capacity.

  • Main announcement: Noon Energy will start the collaboration with a 25MW/2.5GWh project scheduled for completion by 2028, and, following the initial project’s success, will begin deliveries under a 1GW/100GWh supply contract with Meta; Noon said it will begin developing the 25MW/2.5GWh project soon but did not provide a detailed timeline beyond the 2028 completion target.
  • Background and technical details: Noon’s system is built around reversible solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology with separate charge and discharge tanks (decoupling power and energy); the company has an operational demonstration it claims is capable of 200 hours of discharge and the article references other LDES deals and pilots (Form Energy, Energy Dome, Google, Xcel Energy, Crusoe) as context.
• Apr 20, 2026

  US ROUNDUP: BESS developers highlight ‘bring your own capacity’ model in data centre announcements

  Eos Energy Enterprises and Turbine-X have announced a joint development agreement (JDA) to deploy private power infrastructure for AI data centres.

  • Main announcement: Under the JDA, Turbine-X is targeting up to 2GWh of Eos battery energy storage systems across a defined project pipeline over the next 36 months, with initial deployments targeted for 2027; the solution pairs Turbine-X simple-cycle turbine generation with Eos BESS (Znyth) and projects are designed to support multi-hundred-MW deployments per site under milestones set by a joint development advisory committee.
  • Other details & related actions:CPower and Vertiv integrated Vertiv EnergyCore Grid BESS with CPower’s VPP to monetise BTM storage (including a monetised 1MW microgrid at Vertiv’s Ohio facility) and support PJM services; Elevate Renewables closed a US$50 million supplier finance facility (arranged by Rabobank) for a solar-plus-storage project (Prospect Power, 150MW/600MWh, under construction near Virginia, operations scheduled mid-2026, with a 15-year PPA with Dominion Energy Virginia).
• Apr 1, 2026

  Leadership Updates: Key Data Center & Cloud Appointments (Q2 2026)

  Data Center Knowledge has launched a new quarterly series highlighting leadership changes across the data center and cloud industries.

  • Main announcement: The roundup catalogs multiple executive appointments across operators and vendors, including Michael Lahoud named CEO of Stream Data Centers (after 15 years with the firm), Stream’s new hyperscale and sustainability hires (Stacy Medeiros, Santiago Suinaga, Oisín Ó Murchú, Rick Crutchley, Amanda Abell), John Bates named EVP of development and power at Prime Data Centers, Gary Wojtaszek appointed executive chairman and interim CEO of Pure Data Centres Group, and Vantage Data Centers’ appointments of Alicia Ruckteschler (CPO) and Scott Beasley (CFO).
  • Background and other details: The article lists additional vendor and advisory hires (e.g., Michael Maiello at Mission Critical Group; Doug Recker as CEO of Duos Technologies; Andrew Lake at Element Critical; Andrew Worley at Skeleton Technologies), cites Pure DC’s recent Europe’s first data center microgrid and >1 GW of capacity live/under development, references CyrusOne’s $15 billion acquisition by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners, and notes DataBank’s board additions and the editorial contact editors@datacenterknowledge.com.
• Apr 1, 2026 · Outsourcing Today

  Romania Set to Emerge as CEE’s Second-Largest Data Center Hub, Trailing Only Poland

  Romania is set to emerge as the second-largest data centre market in Central and Eastern Europe, supported by large investment estimates and recent partnership deals.

  • Main announcement / expansion: Romania is identified as a fast-growing colocation market with the potential to double or triple capacity; European data centres are estimated to attract €176 billion between 2026 and 2031, and a December 2025 partnership between AIC and ClusterPower was announced to develop a multi-year project of up to 800 MW across two campuses in southwestern Romania.
  • Background and event details: The article cites studies (EUDCA; Platform Insight) and highlights the DataCenter Forum (May 7, Bucharest) — attendees include Rod Evans (NVIDIA) and Jonathan Berney (AIC); the Forum gathers ~800 participants and is supported by Diamond and Gold partners (Schneider Electric, EnerSys, Vertiv, Legrand, HiRef; Vodafone Business, Rittal, Pyralis Services, Orange Business, Cummins, EAE Elektrik, R&M, Voxility, Johnson Controls, Uniline TCS).