LG Becomes First South Korean Firm to Earn Nvidia Certification for AI Server Liquid Cooling

LG Electronics announced that its 600-kilowatt coolant distribution unit (CDU) has passed Nvidia AI Factory certification, confirming the device meets the chipmaker's requirements for data centers powering artificial intelligence. It is the first such certification awarded to a Korean company.

Nvidia AI Factory certification is a verification process in which the chipmaker checks whether a partner's hardware meets the cooling performance, reliability and fault-tolerance standards required in dense, high-power installations running GPUs for training and running AI models. LG passed the process as one of only a handful of companies worldwide, making it an officially recognized supplier within Nvidia's infrastructure ecosystem.

How LG's unit works

The certified CDU uses a direct-to-chip cooling method, delivering coolant straight to GPUs, CPUs and high-bandwidth memory. The unit offers temperature control accurate to within ±0.25 degrees Celsius, leak-detection features, and virtual sensor technology for real-time monitoring of system health.

The system can be integrated with LG's own Data Center Cooling Control Manager, software for predictive control and centralized monitoring that communicates with standard data center infrastructure management protocols.

A chip-to-chiller portfolio

LG is building what it calls a "chip-to-chiller" portfolio, spanning chillers that produce chilled water, coolant distribution units that circulate it through a facility, and cold plates that draw heat directly off AI processors. The company says it is drawing on 60 years of air-conditioning experience and manufactures key components in-house, including magnetic-bearing compressors and inverter systems.

Building on LG Electronics' unrivaled proprietary cooling technology and the group's integrated infrastructure capabilities under the 'ONE LG' philosophy, we will become a total-solutions provider leading the global market - Lee Jae-sung, President of the ES Business Division, LG Electronics

The race for cooling infrastructure

The certification carries strategic weight for LG: according to the cited sources, it gives the company a "fast track" into the supply chains of the world's largest hyperscale data center operators, such as cloud providers building infrastructure for AI model training. Rising power density in server racks packed with Nvidia GPUs means traditional air cooling is no longer enough, and liquid cooling is becoming the standard in new installations.

LG says its next step will be certifying larger units of 1, 2.5 and 4 megawatts, covering the full range of installations from single server racks to entire computing halls. The company also plans to use its own data center projects, built through subsidiary LG CNS, as commercial references for new customers.

What it means for the market

The global AI data center cooling market is estimated, per the cited figures, to reach $133.5 billion, or roughly 185 trillion won, by 2034, growing at an annual rate of 26 percent. That underscores the scale of investment tech companies are now directing toward the infrastructure supporting AI model training and inference, not just the GPUs themselves.

For customers, it means more options when choosing suppliers verified directly by Nvidia, reducing the risk of buying hardware incompatible with the latest GPU platforms. For LG, the certification opens the door to a market segment long dominated by specialized cooling vendors, far from the consumer electronics and home appliance business the company is best known for.