Data Center Dynamics: AI and Energy Demand
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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Data centers drive Schneider Electric gains as tariffs bite
This story was originally published on Facilities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Facilities Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: North American data centers and networks helped drive growth 'aligned with expectations' in the first half of 2025, Schneider Electric said Thursday in an earnings update. The energy management giant expects growth to accelerate in the second half of the year as it adjusts to U.S. tariffs. It sees double-digit annual growth for its data centers and networks segment and mid- to high- single-digit growth for its infrastructure and industry segments through 2027. Two recent moves will bolster Schneider's competitive advantage in the data center business, executives told investors and analysts on an early-Thursday call: its acquisition of a majority stake in cooling solutions provider Motivair earlier this year and a partnership with NVIDIA to develop optimized data center reference designs. Dive Insight: Schneider's revenues grew 8% and net income increased 6% in H1 2025, the company reported. North America was its strongest geography, with 13.8% organic revenue growth propelled by a 15.9% jump in revenue from its energy management group, which includes its data centers and networks business. Continued strong performance in Schneider's data center and networks vertical appeared to validate executives' comments earlier this year that the emergence of more efficient AI models like DeepSeek would not meaningfully impact technology companies' investment plans. CEO Olivier Blum said the Motivair acquisition would help Schneider maintain its 'leading position' in the space with a full data center efficiency solution 'from grid to chip and chip to chiller.' In its partnership with NVIDIA, the company expects to work on 'what will be their next chips [and] what are the designs we need to provide [to] make sure data centers are more efficient' using those new chips, Blum said. Schneider announced a separate collaboration with ETAP earlier this year to produce digital twins that simulate data center operations, helping developers and future occupants optimize efficiency and performance before facilities are built. In its buildings vertical, Schneider's EcoStruxure for Buildings platform and majority ownership of building management software provider Planon helped it slash key customers' building energy consumption to around 30% of the global average for comparable facilities, the company said. In case studies it shared, an upgrade to an uninterrupted power unit at a cancer hospital in India helped it improve energy efficiency by 30% and an occupancy-based room conditioning system at a London corporate headquarters helped it achieve 22% savings in operational energy use and carbon intensity. The EcoStruxure solutions span a range of onsite power management, efficiency and decarbonization solutions for commercial and industrial facilities, the company says. Last year, for example, Schneider unveiled a battery energy storage system to support self-contained microgrids that can reduce heavy power users' peak energy demand — a costly operational expense. Data center developers and operators are likewise turning to flexible onsite power solutions that 'island' from the main grid to bypass grid connection queues that can stretch for years. Business environment Schneider said unfavorable foreign exchange dynamics reduced Schneider's global group revenues by 2.1%, mainly due to weakening of the U.S. dollar, Indian rupee, Turkish lira and Mexican peso relative to the euro, the home currency of the France-based company. Schneider has substantial manufacturing operations in the United States, India, Turkiye and Mexico. Economists blame the decline in the U.S. dollar this year on a 'risk premium' caused by mounting federal debt and the Trump administration's unpredictable trade policy. U.S. tariffs and inflation for raw materials were further headwinds for Schneider in the first half, offsetting productivity gains in a trend that Chief Financial Officer Hilary Maxson said could continue through the end of 2025. 'Depending on [the] timing of various tariff actions in the U.S., we'd now expect our gross margin progression for the full year could be somewhat negative,' Maxson said Thursday. But Schneider's "demonstrated pricing power' ought to help the company 'fully offset the impacts of tariffs and inflation over the next quarters,' she said. Schneider mounted a quick response to tariffs during the first months of the Trump administration, but the benefits may not be apparent until the company reports its second-half performance early next year, Blum said. Schneider's actions so far include 'most of the price increase' that customers will see as a result of the tariffs imposed so far, though 'if there are further actions to be implemented depending on the latest news, of course we will continue to do more,' he said. Recommended Reading Schneider Electric debuts data center consulting service Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business Insider
China's military tried to buy Nvidia chips for AI servers and a robot dog, documents show
The Chinese military wants to use Nvidia AI chips in a wide range of projects, from servers running Chinese startup DeepSeek's most powerful model to a 33-pound "robot dog" with a high-definition camera, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider. BI reviewed records on the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s official procurement portal, where military units post thousands of requests for equipment that local contractors can bid on. Multiple requests over the past year reference both banned and permitted Nvidia hardware, including the H20 chip, on which the US is set to loosen export controls—a move that has sent Nvidia's stock soaring. An Nvidia spokesperson told BI that China has "more than enough" domestic chips for all its military applications. "Buying a handful of older products to test the US competition is not a national security concern," the spokesperson said. "Using restricted products for military applications would be a nonstarter, without support, software, or maintenance." While the Chinese military tries to buy Nvidia's hardware, the chipmaker faces pressure from other parts of the Chinese government, which has long supported efforts to build a domestic alternative. On Thursday, China's internet regulator said it had summoned the company to explain alleged backdoor security risks in its H20 chips, claims that Nvidia has denied, Reuters reported. How the Chinese army wants to use Nvidia chips The military projects reviewed by BI are typically for servers to run AI models, like those built by DeepSeek, for unspecified purposes. Three requests published this April call for banned Nvidia chips to power such servers. One requests at least eight H20 cards for a system capable of running one of DeepSeek's largest and most powerful models, DeepSeek-R1 671B, at full capacity. Another, tied to an "intelligent decision-making" support system that can also run DeepSeek, calls for four RTX 6000 graphics cards—also banned. Although the contract hasn't been finalized, a supplier was provisionally selected in June. DeepSeek didn't respond to requests for comment. Another server request from the same month asks for an H100 graphics card— banned from export to China since 2022—which can cost tens of thousands of dollars apiece. The listing specifies that the cards must be delivered in their original packaging and installed on-site. Another AI server request published in July 2024 also calls for H100 GPUs. The Chinese military isn't only calling for AI servers. One project from April, for example, shows a military unit requesting a 33-pound "robot dog" with an Nvidia Jetson computing module as part of an unspecified training project. This particular request was later canceled, and Jetson modules are not barred from being exported to China for most use cases. It's unclear whether the Chinese military actually obtained these chips. Ryan Fedasiuk, a former State Department advisor on China tech policy, says the Chinese military has many ways to acquire them. "There are ample cutouts, subsidiaries, and shell companies that the PLA can and does use to source chips illicitly from American companies, including Nvidia," he told BI. Nvidia plans to sell H20 chips to China again Some national security policymakers and professionals have expressed concerns about making it easier for China to get some Nvidia chips. Twenty of them sent a letter to the Commerce Department on Monday asking the US to reimpose the H20 ban, saying the chips would "support China's military." "This reversal will certainly open the floodgates," said Craig Singleton, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who co-signed the letter. The Commerce Department told BI that the current administration has tightened controls compared to its predecessor. "The Trump Administration will consider any H20 license applications carefully, accounting for both the benefits and the costs of potential exports from America and taking into account the views of experts across the US Government," a Commerce spokesperson said. 'Nobody can beat Nvidia' Fedasiuk reviewed some of the records found by BI and said they show that the Chinese military, like Chinese AI companies, wants to use the best hardware possible, and domestic chips like Huawei's don't cut it. "In terms of sheer processing power that a given chip is capable of bringing to bear, nobody can beat Nvidia. Huawei is not close," Fedasiuk said. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has downplayed such concerns, saying China's military doesn't want to rely on US technology. "They simply can't rely on it," Huang said in July on CNN. "It could, of course, be limited at any time."
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Bloomberg
Robots Emerge as New Driver for China's Tech Rally With 75% Jump
Chinese robotics stocks are drawing fresh market attention as investors look for new catalysts for the rally sparked earlier this year by DeepSeek's advances in artificial intelligence. The Solactive China Humanoid Robotics Index has surged about 75% over the past year, quadrupling the gain in the CSI 300 Index. Dazzling performances by robots at a conference in Shanghai last weekend and the launch of a humanoid for under $6,000 are among the latest sources of enthusiasm.
