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Jabil says acquisition cools off the hot chips behind cloud and AI

Company buys NH provider of liquid cooling devices for high-energy processors and data centers.

chip cooling plate from Mikros Technologies
Ben Ames
By Ben AmesOct 04, 2024
Ben Ames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
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Facing rising demand for the liquid cooling devices need to manage computer chips in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud data centers, the manufacturing and supply chain solution provider Jabil Inc. has acquired the New Hampshire tech firm Mikros Technologies.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Florida-based Jabil bought the firm as it said that liquid cooling has emerged as a more energy-efficient alternative to air cooling for applications in the continued adoption of artificial intelligence, energy storage, and electric vehicles.

Those products drive higher-power density systems across both consumer and commercial industries, forcing producers to seek new ways to manage the intense thermal requirements of their current and next-generation products, while keeping sustainability and cost considerations top of mind.

In fact, data centers require so much electric power for computing and cooling that a report from real estate firm Savills says the future growth of U.S. factories now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mikros Technologies to the Jabil team,” Ed Bailey, Jabil’s senior vice president and CTO, said in a release. “The thermal management capabilities they bring will allow Jabil to extend the range of services we provide to cloud service providers, hardware OEMs, and liquid cooling solutions providers. In addition to the data center ecosystem, we see significant opportunities in other end-markets that require thermal management, including automated test equipment for semiconductors, batteries, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles.”

According to Mikros Technologies, its microchannel liquid cooling solutions address complex thermal management challenges by using microchannel cold plate designs to cool over one kilowatt per square centimeter. Those technologies and capabilities will complement Jabil’s portfolio of data center lifecycle solutions, semiconductor test equipment solutions, and energy and transportation solutions, Mikros said.

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