Intel to invest $700 mn for a R&D mega lab focused on innovative data centre technologies

Chip-maker Intel has announced plans to invest more than $700 million for a research and development mega lab focused on innovative data centre technologies.

Additionally, the company introduced the technology industry's first open intellectual property (open IP) immersion liquid cooling solution and reference design.

"The future of the data centre and data centre design is based on innovative and sustainable technologies and practices," said Sandra L Rivera, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Datacenter and AI Group.

The 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the art research and development mega lab will be focused on areas such as immersion cooling, water usage effectiveness and heat recapture and reuse.

Also, with the initial design proof of concept initiated in Taiwan, Intel aims to simplify and accelerate the implementation of immersion liquid cooling solutions throughout the ecosystem globally.

Construction on the lab will begin this year at the Jones Farm campus in Hillsboro, Oregon, with opening expected in late 2023, the company said in a statement late on Thursday.

The lab will also host an advanced technology showcase for customers and partners to observe and test Intel products in a variety of data centre environments in the lab, in an effort to accelerate adoption of these new technologies throughout the ecosystem.

Data centres represent approximately 1 per cent of the global electricity demand and account for about 0.3 per cent of global carbon emissions1.

Research shows that immersion cooling with energy reuse could reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent compared to traditional data centre usage, said the company.