Schneider Electric has announced two new reference designs developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, aimed at helping data center operators accelerate the deployment of AI-ready infrastructure while ensuring reliable power and advanced cooling.
The first release introduces what Schneider calls the industry’s first reference design integrating power management and liquid cooling controls, including Motivair by Schneider Electric technologies. The framework is built for interoperability with NVIDIA Mission Control, the company’s orchestration software for AI factory operations. By connecting operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) systems, the design provides a blueprint for seamless management of complex AI infrastructure.
The second focuses on NVIDIA GB300 NVL72-based clusters, supporting rack densities of up to 142 kilowatts per rack. The co-engineered design provides a framework covering facility power, cooling, IT space, and lifecycle software for high-density AI data halls. Available in both ANSI and IEC standards, it is tailored to support the next-generation NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra architecture.
Tackling AI’s infrastructure demands
As artificial intelligence workloads grow more intensive, data centers face pressure to deliver massive compute power without compromising efficiency or uptime. Schneider Electric said its new reference designs address those challenges by combining tested blueprints with “plug-and-play” interoperability across critical systems.
“Schneider Electric is streamlining the process of designing, deploying, and operating advanced AI infrastructure with its new reference designs,” said Jim Simonelli, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Schneider Electric. “They are future-ready, scalable, and co-engineered with NVIDIA for real-world applications — enabling data center operators to keep pace with surging demand for AI.”
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The controls reference design connects edge devices and facility systems across NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 and NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 deployments, using MQTT protocols to bridge OT and IT environments. According to Schneider, this allows operators to optimize uptime by monitoring power profiles, managing redundancy across cooling and power distribution, and feeding critical infrastructure data into digital twins and enterprise systems.
NVIDIA welcomed the move as part of a broader shift toward integrated data center design. “We are entering a new era of accelerated computing, where integrated intelligence across power, cooling and operations will redefine data center architectures,” said Scott Wallace, Director of Data Center Engineering at NVIDIA. “With its latest controls reference design, Schneider Electric connects critical infrastructure data with NVIDIA Mission Control, delivering a rigorously validated blueprint that enables AI factory digital twins.”
Blueprint for AI Factories
The GB300 NVL72 reference design provides the foundation for AI factories powered by clusters of up to 1,152 GPUs. Using liquid-to-liquid coolant distribution units and high-temperature chillers, the design enables data centers to host multiple GB300 NVL72-based clusters while maintaining efficiency.
Schneider Electric also integrates its ETAP and EcoStruxure IT Design CFD models, enabling operators to simulate power and cooling scenarios before deployment. These digital twin capabilities are intended to reduce deployment risk and optimize performance for unique applications.
The latest announcement builds on nine previous AI reference designs Schneider has produced for scenarios ranging from prefabricated modules to retrofit data centers.
By providing proven, documented frameworks for power and cooling at AI scale, Schneider Electric and NVIDIA are seeking to ease one of the biggest bottlenecks facing data center operators: how to support the next wave of GPU-driven computing without sacrificing efficiency or resilience.
