The world is currently obsessed with AI, but there is a hidden cost that nobody likes to talk about: it is incredibly thirsty and power-hungry. Every time we ask an AI to write an email or create an image, giant computers in massive warehouses (data centers) work overtime, generating an intense amount of heat. To keep from melting, these centers currently use about 2% of the entire world’s electricity and gulp down tens of thousands of liters of water every single day.
As AI grows faster than ever, we are heading toward a wall where we simply won’t have enough water or power to keep it running. But a California startup called Karman Industries thinks they’ve found the “escape hatch.” They are using a smart new approach to cooling that uses zero water, takes up almost no space, and cuts power use in half.
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Simple Tech Borrowed from the Stars
The team at Karman Industries didn’t just try to build a better fan or a bigger air conditioner. Instead, they looked at how engines manage extreme heat in the toughest environments imaginable.
They’ve built a system that works in a “closed loop.” Think of it like a high-tech refrigerator that uses carbon dioxide (CO₂) instead of water to carry heat away. A tiny but incredibly fast spinning part—turning at 30,000 times per minute—moves this gas through the system to soak up heat directly from the computer chips.
The best part? Because it’s a closed loop, the water stays in the ground, and the heat is moved away much faster than traditional air cooling could ever dream of.
Huge Gains in a Small Box
One of the biggest headaches for tech companies is that cooling equipment is usually huge and messy. Karman’s solution is modular, meaning it’s built like building blocks that can be added whenever they are needed.
Saving Space: This new setup takes up 80% less room than the cooling systems used today. That means companies can fit more computers into the same building.
Cutting the Power Bill: It uses 50% less electricity to do the same job.
No More Waste: The heat that is pulled out of the computers isn’t just thrown away. Karman wants to catch that heat and use it to warm up buildings or even turn it back into electricity.
Why This Matters for the Future
The newest chips being made for AI are getting so hot that standard fans and vents literally cannot keep them cool anymore. They are reaching a physical breaking point.
Karman Industries is aiming right at this problem. Their units are designed to handle the massive heat loads of the world’s most powerful AI systems. With the market for cooling expected to more than double to $25 billion by 2032, the timing couldn’t be better. The company plans to start shipping these units to their first customers in the summer of 2026.
By getting rid of the need for water and shrinking the power bill, we might just be able to keep the AI revolution moving without drying out the planet.
