Asset management giant BlackRock joins forces with Microsoft for a major move! Lenovo's liquid cooling technology saves AI power consumption

On September 18th, it was reported that BlackRock is preparing to launch a joint artificial intelligence investment fund with the tech giant Microsoft, with a fund size exceeding $30 billion. The fund aims to build data centers and energy projects to meet the growing demand brought by artificial intelligence. BlackRock will launch this fund in collaboration with its new infrastructure investment department, Global Infrastructure Partners, making it one of the largest investment tools in Wall Street history.

The Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX is the general partner of the fund, with chip maker NVIDIA providing expertise.

According to sources, this investment tool is designed to address the staggering electricity and digital infrastructure needs for building artificial intelligence products. It is expected that in the coming years, these products will face serious production bottlenecks. The computational power of artificial intelligence requires more energy than previous technological innovations, putting pressure on existing energy infrastructure.

As a leading global end-to-end infrastructure solutions provider, Lenovo Group has made significant achievements in the field of artificial intelligence. Lenovo's Neptune liquid-cooled server integrates achievements from multiple disciplines such as materials science, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, achieving 100% water cooling for server components, supporting 72 high-density water-cooled nodes in a single cabinet, with power reaching over 100kW per cabinet. Through a full cabinet water-cooling design without fans, the server cooling efficiency reaches 98%, with 90% of waste heat being recycled for reuse, effectively reducing energy consumption by 42% and lowering the data center's PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) to 1.1. This technological breakthrough not only enhances computing performance but also significantly reduces energy consumption, making it highly attractive for modern data centers that prioritize efficiency and environmental friendliness.

In terms of user experience, the design of the Neptune liquid-cooled server aims to meet the demands of high-performance computing, attracting strong interest from both research institutions and large internet companies. Through a warm water liquid cooling + heat recovery solution, the Neptune server not only optimizes the energy efficiency of computing power but also comprehensively reduces electricity consumption unrelated to computing power based on different customer business needs, achieving energy recycling. This flexibility and customized service position the Neptune liquid-cooled server uniquely in the market, providing customers with more sustainable and efficient computing solutions.

As one of the giants in global asset management, BlackRock is optimistic about the economic prospects and market returns in China. In the field of artificial intelligence, BlackRock sees the potential of Lenovo's technology. According to the latest equity disclosure data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as of now, the latest increase in holdings was on September 12th, with BlackRock holding 628,194,955 shares, accounting for 5.06% of the total outstanding shares.

(Data Source: HKEX)

BlackRock believes that in the current global economic environment, both inflation and interest rates remain high, while supply constraints lead to low growth. This unprecedented macro environment is expected to persist for some time. Meanwhile, economies are striving to address challenges such as aging populations, global supply chain restructuring, and low-carbon transitions, which restrict production and increase capital investment. In this context, artificial intelligence, as a technology that can long-term boost productivity and alleviate inflationary pressures, has attracted significant market attention. Despite the full potential benefits of artificial intelligence not yet fully realized, its supportive role in corporate profitability has been evident, with room for further growth in the future. Since the popularity of artificial intelligence applications like ChatGPT, capital expenditures in related fields have significantly increased, with a continued growth trend expected in the coming years.

With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence technology, the demand for computing power infrastructure is growing. Lenovo Group, through its full-stack artificial intelligence strategy, has made comprehensive layouts in intelligent terminals, infrastructure, and solution services. Lenovo's artificial intelligence-oriented infrastructure business, including servers, storage, data networks, software and hyper-convergence, edge infrastructure products and solutions, is expected to benefit from BlackRock and Microsoft's AI infrastructure funds.

As a customer of Lenovo, Microsoft has a long-standing cooperation in exploring artificial intelligence collaborations. At the just-concluded 2024 Lenovo Innovation World Conference, several groundbreaking AI PCs were released, with multiple Copilot+ PCs becoming the focus. Pavan Davuluri, Vice President of Microsoft Windows and Devices, stated that Lenovo has redefined portability with its 2-in-1 PCs and set standards for industrial design with Lenovo Yoga. Lenovo is a leader in introducing Intel PCs to enterprises, using Microsoft's pluto chips and cloud security technology on its iconic ThinkPad.

Among them, Lenovo's ThinkPad Copilot+ PC for enterprise customers boasts excellent keyboards, reliability, quality, and incredible performance. Earlier, Microsoft announced the expansion of Copilot+ PCs to Qualcomm Snapdragon X+ 8-core, AMD's third-generation Ryzen AI processor, and Intel Core Ultra 200v Lunar Lake processor. Starting from November, devices from AMD and Intel will begin to see new Copilot+ PC AI experiences through free Windows updates.

Against the backdrop of BlackRock and Microsoft's AI infrastructure funds, Lenovo Group is poised to be a big winner. Lenovo has made breakthroughs in artificial intelligence computing power and has a place in the global server market. With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence technology and infrastructure expansion, Lenovo Group's artificial intelligence products and services may receive wider applications and recognition, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in the global artificial intelligence market. Furthermore, Lenovo Group's growth paradigm indicates that the company is achieving performance growth through its layout in the field of artificial intelligence