Salute wins AI infrastructure customers for 20GW worldwide

Salute has secured customers representing more than 20GW of AI infrastructure capacity worldwide. It built that customer base in less than a year after joining the NVIDIA Partner Network.

The milestone reflects growth in Salute's work deploying and operating high-density AI systems built on NVIDIA accelerated computing infrastructure. Demand has increased among AI infrastructure providers seeking operating models for liquid-cooled data centre environments.

Salute says it has developed what it describes as the first comprehensive operating framework for direct-to-chip liquid cooling. The framework covers procedures, training and commissioning support for facilities running high-density AI workloads.

Direct-to-chip cooling is becoming a larger part of AI data centre design as operators look to manage heat from increasingly dense systems. These environments also change day-to-day operational requirements, including coolant chemistry, leak detection, safety controls, monitoring and maintenance.

Salute's Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling Operations Service is intended to address those areas through site procedures and specialist training. It is also designed to support commissioning and ongoing operations across AI facilities and remote sites handling training and inference workloads.

Alongside that service, the company offers staffing for AI facilities, operating models tailored to individual site designs, written operating procedures, and a continuously updated training and knowledge base. Those procedures cover emergency, maintenance and standard operating practices tied to direct-to-chip systems.

Mike Jones, President, Global Operations, Salute, said customer uptake shows how quickly operators are moving to formalise day-to-day management of liquid-cooled AI infrastructure.

"Over the past year, we have seen extraordinary demand from AI infrastructure providers looking for a proven way to safely operate high-density, liquid-cooled environments at scale," said Mike Jones, President, Global Operations, Salute.

"Our Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling Operations Service brings together the operating procedures, specialised training, commissioning expertise and people required to manage these environments. Securing customers to support more than 20GW demonstrates the scale at which this operational model is now being adopted."

Operational focus

The growth comes as AI data centre operators face pressure to bring new capacity online quickly while maintaining uptime and managing more complex thermal systems. Liquid cooling can help support higher rack densities, but it also introduces operational risks that differ from those in conventional air-cooled environments.

Salute's role centres on the operational layer rather than chip or server design. Its work includes helping customers prepare facilities for service, training staff to manage cooling systems, and setting procedures for routine operations and emergency response.

NVIDIA said those operational disciplines are becoming increasingly important as customers scale AI installations.

"Enterprises deploying AI infrastructure at scale need operational models that optimize performance, reliability, efficiency and velocity from day one," said Andria Zou, Senior Director of Global AI Factory Strategy and Ecosystem, NVIDIA.

"As a member of the NVIDIA Partner Network, Salute helps NVIDIA customers advance operational resiliency with services aligned with NVIDIA accelerated computing technologies."

Global footprint

Founded in 2013, Salute provides lifecycle services for data centres across more than 102 markets. It has 12 global offices and more than 2,800 employees working across hyperscale, cloud, colocation and edge facilities.

The latest announcement places AI operations more centrally in the company's growth strategy, particularly as operators build what the industry increasingly calls AI factories: facilities designed for large-scale training and inference. Those sites require different staffing, maintenance and commissioning models from older enterprise data centres.

Erich Sanchack, Chief Executive Officer, Salute, said the company's work in AI infrastructure builds on several years of experience supporting NVIDIA-based environments.

"Salute's membership in the NVIDIA Partner Network builds on years of experience supporting NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure," said Erich Sanchack, Chief Executive Officer, Salute.

"AI data centres and AI factories require disciplined operating models, specialised talent and proven reliability to scale. We provide the operational foundation that allows liquid-cooled AI environments to perform with confidence."