AI workloads force data centres to rethink cooling

KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asia's accelerating data centre build-out and surging artificial intelligence (AI) workloads are driving demand for advanced cooling technologies, as higher computing densities push operators beyond conventional air-cooling systems.

Industry experts said the rapid deployment of AI infrastructure was increasing pressure on data centre operators, including those in Malaysia, to adopt more efficient thermal management systems as higher rack densities generate significantly more heat.

China-based thermal management and clean-air solutions provider TICA said the shift was creating opportunities for integrated liquid and hybrid cooling systems capable of supporting high-density AI infrastructure while improving energy efficiency, scalability and operational resilience.

As AI workloads drive up rack power densities, conventional air cooling faces greater thermal constraints, strengthening the case for engineered liquid-cooling architectures designed to handle next-generation computing loads.

In a statement, TICA said it was positioning itself as a full-chain thermal management provider for air- and liquid-cooled data centres, offering solutions spanning primary-side cooling sources, secondary-side precision cooling and liquid cooling.

Malaysia is a strategic gateway for TICA's regional expansion. Since its Malaysian factory began operations in 2019, the company has expanded its Southeast Asian footprint, supplying solutions to major projects involving Infineon, Western Digital and Singapore Changi Airport.

TICA said its integrated approach was designed to help operators balance cooling performance, scalability, energy efficiency and water-conscious operations as AI infrastructure becomes increasingly power- and cooling-intensive.

The company said its high-precision air-treatment technologies serve more than 7,000 hospitals, over 5,000 GMP-certified pharmaceutical plants, more than 3,000 semiconductor and electronics manufacturing enterprises and over 1,000 new energy companies across more than 100 countries.

In the data centre segment, TICA said its integrated air-liquid cooling solutions had been deployed in more than 100 large-scale projects, with over 12,000 fan walls and 10,000 high-performance chillers delivered globally, serving technology companies including Amazon, Alibaba and TikTok.

Against this backdrop, TICA is showcasing its integrated data centre cooling solutions at ENGINEER & MARVEX 2026 in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 22 to 25, targeting growing demand for thermal management technologies as Southeast Asia accelerates investment in AI and next-generation data centre infrastructure.