Data centers worldwide consume enormous volumes of water — a single hyperscale facility can use up to 1.5 million liters of water per day for cooling and humidification. As compute density requirements rise to unprecedented levels with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, this water consumption continues to increase,

In response, Microsoft is introducing a new approach to thermal management for high-density AI workloads. As part of Microsoft's Data Center Community Pledge, which outlines its commitment to local economies and communities where it operates facilities, new data centers will rely on chip-level cooling to deliver precise temperature control without water evaporation. The new solutions permit higher operating temperatures than previous hardware generations, enabling the use of economizing chillers with elevated water temperatures.

Water is recycled through a closed loop, and once the system is filled during construction, it will continually circulate water between the servers and chillers to dissipate heat without requiring a fresh water supply.

The design is projected to reduce water consumption by 125 million liters annually per data center facility. Microsoft plans to pilot the zero-water evaporated designs at new facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, with operations scheduled to commence in 2026. The company has initiated the implementation of next-generation cooling technology across all new data center designs from August 2024.