Powerful AI systems generate significant heat, making cooling one of the biggest challenges for modern computing infrastructure.
It was a challenge Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, had to overcome when it built AI infrastructure known as Vetra.
Based at CSIRO’s Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies (QCAT) in Pullenvale, it delivers high-performance AI computing in a smaller, modular and sustainable footprint, located where real-world testing and research happen.
CSIRO’s Data61 director, Liming Zhu, said Vetra delivers sovereign, trusted AI computing at the edge, close in physical proximity to where data is generated by robots and sensing systems.
Vetra sits alongside Australia’s largest robotics research facility, allowing AI systems to learn directly from real-world testing rather than simulations alone.
Vetra has been designed to reduce environmental impact by using carbon dioxide-based cooling systems and closed-loop liquid cooling, reducing reliance on traditional water-intensive cooling methods.
Under normal operation, the infrastructure wastes almost no water for cooling and is expected to save around 225 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year – roughly equivalent to taking 50 cars off Queensland roads annually.
CSIRO’s CTO Angus Macoustra said the infrastructure had been designed from the ground up with sustainability in mind.
“High-performance AI systems generate a lot of heat in dense, enclosed spaces. Vetra shows how advanced technology can be delivered in a way that significantly reduces water use and emissions,” Macoustra said.