ORNL launches Next Generation Data Centers Institute to secure AI

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has announced the launch of the Next Generation Data Centers Institute (NGDCI) to develop technologies that make AI data centers more efficient, reliable, secure, and integrated with the U.S. energy system.

• Main announcement: NGDCI will coordinate ORNL’s energy science, computing, and national security strengths (including MEGA-DC, OLCF, campus microgrid and GRID-C testbeds) to research six priority areas: thermal management, power system architecture, grid integration, operations and load management, security, and integrated systems modeling. The Oak Ridge Reservation has been selected by DOE as a site to advance large-scale AI data center and energy generation projects, and NGDCI will support deployment of ORNL systems Discovery and Lux.
• Background and partners: The article cites rising demand (data centers >4% of U.S. electricity use; AI-driven growth could reach 17% by 2030 per EPRI) and a McKinsey estimate of $7 trillion global data center infrastructure spending by 2030 (with >40% in the U.S.). Industry collaborators explicitly named include AMD, Carrier Energy, Chemours, and NVIDIA, and the effort aligns with DOE’s Genesis Mission. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE.