Schneider And NVIDIA Build Sustainable AI Factories

In a major step towards developing sustainable digital infrastructure in Europe, Schneider Electric and NVIDIA have announced a strategic partnership aimed at co-developing AI-ready power, cooling, and control systems for next-generation data centers. This collaboration was unveiled during NVIDIA’s GTC Paris event and is positioned to play a critical role in the European Union’s digital future, aligning with both the European Commission’s “AI Continent Action Plan” and the €200 billion “InvestAI” initiative.

Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy management and automation, and NVIDIA, a pioneer in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence, are joining forces to support the creation of energy-efficient, high-performance infrastructure essential for AI operations. As AI becomes a transformative force across industries and societies, the need for advanced and sustainable data center technologies is becoming increasingly urgent. The collaboration reflects both companies’ deep commitment to decarbonizing the AI infrastructure ecosystem and creating scalable solutions that are environmentally and economically viable.

Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric, emphasized the scale and ambition of this partnership. He highlighted that the collaboration is not a conventional business alliance, but rather an integration of deep research and development efforts that push the boundaries of power and cooling solutions for AI-driven data centers. “Together, we’ve seen tremendous success in deploying next-generation power and liquid cooling solutions, purpose-built for AI data centers. This strategic partnership — bringing together the world leaders in sustainability and accelerated computing — allows us to further accelerate this momentum, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for the AI workloads of tomorrow,” Blum stated.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, echoed the sentiment, calling AI “the defining technology of our time” and underscoring the importance of building what he termed “AI factories” — infrastructure that will be central to delivering AI capabilities to businesses, governments, and societies. He emphasized the unique combination of Schneider Electric’s sustainability leadership and NVIDIA’s computing expertise as a driving force behind this initiative.

As part of this collaboration, Schneider Electric is rolling out new solutions within its EcoStruxure™ platform that are tailored for AI data centers. These include a prefabricated modular pod-based data center model that allows for faster global deployment and a new rack system inspired by the Open Compute Project (OCP), developed specifically for the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 platform. The rack design leverages NVIDIA’s MGX modular architecture, enabling greater customization and scalability.

These innovations mark Schneider Electric’s deeper integration into NVIDIA’s HGX and MGX ecosystems and reflect its pivotal role in building the digital infrastructure necessary for Europe’s AI ambitions. With the increasing demand for computing power driven by AI and machine learning, the emphasis on energy-efficient deployment becomes essential. The partnership focuses not only on performance but also on reducing the environmental impact of large-scale data operations.

In a further boost to their efforts, Schneider Electric has also been recognized as an approved CDU (cooling distribution unit) vendor for NVIDIA. This recognition follows the company’s acquisition of Motivair in March 2025, whose liquid cooling technologies are now a key component of the joint product roadmap. Together, the companies have developed several full electrical and liquid cooling-based reference designs aimed at accelerating the transition to high-performance AI infrastructure with a low carbon footprint.

In a landmark achievement, the partnership previously launched the world’s first digital twin for electrical and power systems in AI factories. This was made possible through a collaboration between Schneider Electric, ETAP, and the NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint, providing a virtual model to simulate and optimize performance across complex power systems before physical deployment.

A significant advantage of this alliance lies in Schneider Electric’s deep knowledge in grid coordination, sustainability, and energy transition. This expertise, combined with NVIDIA’s leadership in AI and accelerated computing, provides a strong foundation for creating intelligent and adaptive infrastructure systems that can evolve with technological and environmental demands. The partners aim to fast-track the development and deployment of new reference designs for AI factories, ensuring speed, scalability, and sustainability remain core principles.

With Europe’s digital strategy calling for the development of at least 13 AI factories and five AI gigafactories, Schneider Electric and NVIDIA’s collaboration is poised to play a crucial role in achieving these objectives. Their joint innovation pipeline will help lay the groundwork for responsible and resilient digital infrastructure, enabling Europe to meet its sustainability goals while driving technological progress.

By co-developing AI-enabled, energy-responsible infrastructure, Schneider Electric and NVIDIA are not only meeting the demands of today’s AI revolution but are also building a future where digital transformation goes hand in hand with environmental stewardship. This partnership represents a pivotal milestone in the integration of sustainability into the backbone of the AI-powered world.