LG has deepened its alliance with Nvidia, its biggest existing partner in artificial intelligence, after also expanding ties with Microsoft. With Nvidia certifying LG's cooling solutions and batteries directly, the group's chances of joining the "AI factory" business — large-scale AI data centers to be built under Nvidia's lead — have risen.
LG Electronics (066570) and LG Energy Solution (373220) said on the 22nd that their 2.5-megawatt coolant distribution unit (CDU) and battery energy storage system (BESS) had been approved as Nvidia "DSX Ready" products. The DSX Ready designation means Nvidia has recognized the products as meeting the quality level required for installation in AI factories, which the chipmaker plans to build by integrating its graphics processing units (GPUs) with partners' cooling, battery, power, networking and operations solutions.
Nvidia evaluated products from companies worldwide and released its first DSX Ready product list the same day. Including LG, only three manufacturers worldwide won DSX Ready certification for 2.5-megawatt CDUs, and only three did so for BESS. LG is the only South Korean company on either list.
That places LG among the top three candidates to supply cooling solutions and batteries for Nvidia's future AI factories. "Actual orders and contracts depend on Nvidia's decision, but technically the products from the three companies, including LG, are in a favorable position," an industry official said.
A CDU is the core device in liquid cooling systems, circulating coolant evenly inside a data center to directly cool the heat generated by AI chips such as GPUs. Each rack, the basic server unit making up an AI factory, draws about 120 kilowatts of power, so 20 racks handled by a single CDU require roughly 2.4 megawatts. That calls for a CDU capacity of a similar scale, about 2.5 megawatts. The only 2.5-megawatt CDUs on the DSX Ready list are those from LG Electronics, LiquidStack and Vertiv.
LG Electronics had already won Nvidia's quality certification for its 600-kilowatt and 1-megawatt models, and with the 2.5-megawatt unit it now has a CDU lineup capable of addressing a range of demand as Nvidia builds actual data centers.
Alongside CDUs, the company is also advancing its broader liquid cooling technology, including high-efficiency chillers that supply large volumes of cold water, computer room air handlers (CRAH) and cold plates that remove heat directly from semiconductors. According to market research firm TrendForce, the adoption rate of liquid cooling solutions in AI data centers is projected to jump to 60% next year from 14% in 2024.
LG Energy Solution's BESS was also rated as top-tier in the industry, alongside products from Hitachi Energy and Tesla. Built on high-capacity lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, it offers high safety, energy efficiency and a long lifespan. Its modular design allows batteries to be added quickly as a data center expands further, shortening construction time.
The product also has strengths in power control and load management. It features "AI load leveling," which charges and discharges to ease loads in line with sharp swings in power use by AI servers, and it has reinforced "voltage support" to supply power stably when grid voltage drops or rises abruptly.
LG Energy Solution will have 50 gigawatt-hours of energy storage system (ESS) production capacity in North America by the end of the year, and it expects the certification to translate into orders that expand its local ESS business.
