ABB has unveiled Infinitus, what it describes as the industry's first source-to-rack direct current portfolio designed for AI data centers, positioning the offering as a foundational shift in how power is delivered from the grid to individual computing racks.

The launch, announced by ABB's Electrification business area, targets the surging energy demands of AI infrastructure and introduces a suite of technologies the company expects will reshape data center architecture over the next several years.

The Power Problem Driving the DC Push

The scale of the challenge ABB is responding to is substantial. The International Energy Agency projects that global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030. At the same time, next-generation AI chips are expected to draw 1 megawatt per rack and beyond, compared to approximately 200 kilowatts today. That fivefold increase in rack-level power demand is forcing a rethinking of how data centers are designed and how electricity is routed through them.

ABB estimates that approximately 25 to 40 percent of new data center capacity installed in 2030 could be using direct current distribution. The company argues that conventional alternating current systems introduce redundant conversion steps and heat losses that become increasingly costly at the power densities required by AI workloads.

By contrast, an 800 VDC distribution architecture eliminates several of those conversion stages and reduces the physical footprint of power infrastructure, freeing up more of a facility's floor space for revenue-generating computing equipment.

A joint report by BCG and ABB calculated that DC distribution can deliver energy efficiency gains of more than five percent while also increasing available space for compute racks. ABB translated that figure into concrete financial terms: for a 500-megawatt data center campus, a five percent efficiency improvement represents 25 megawatts of additional power available for IT loads and more than USD 300 Million in potential additional annual revenue.

The company also noted that the corresponding energy savings over one year would be equivalent to powering Washington D.C. for nearly a full week.

What the Infinitus Portfolio Contains

At the center of the Infinitus portfolio is ABB's solid-state transformer technology, which the company says enables facilities to operate with a smaller footprint and greater energy efficiency. ABB describes itself as the only major electrification supplier with both the world's first fully IEC-certified solid-state circuit breaker and an industry-first static medium-voltage uninterruptible power supply currently in production.

The Infinitus portfolio is organized around five functional building blocks. Medium voltage powertrains deliver stable and resilient power from the grid or from on-site generation sources. DC sources and power quality components convert alternating current to direct current, removing the conversion process from what the industry calls white space, the area of a data center housing active computing equipment.

DC power distribution technology delivers power safely and reliably while enabling higher power density in a smaller physical footprint. DC power protection systems guard operators, AI servers, and associated hardware against DC overcurrents. The fifth element, cooling optimization, reduces energy consumption across both grey and white space through DC-connected variable speed drives and motors.

ABB said it works with customers to design solutions tailored to their specific power demands, facility layout, and energy mix. The company characterized this as a partnership approach intended to optimize each deployment for efficiency and reliability. The portfolio is designed to complement existing AC systems as well as support fully DC-native architectures, giving customers flexibility in how they transition their infrastructure.

Timeline and Existing Partnerships

ABB acknowledged that the rollout of the complete Infinitus portfolio will take time. A number of the main components are expected to enter production within the next twelve months, and the first DC-native facilities using the full portfolio are anticipated to be installed and operational within two to three years.

The launch builds on ABB's existing collaboration with NVIDIA, which was first announced in October 2025, to develop 800 VDC power architectures for gigawatt-scale AI facilities. ABB said it brings more than 25 years of DC experience to that partnership, along with over 700 patents spanning renewables, power generation, energy storage, motors, and drives.

Giampiero Frisio, President of ABB's Electrification business area, said the company has been working closely with chipmakers, hyperscale customers, supply partners, and industry bodies to set standards and the pace for high-efficiency DC architecture deployment. He described Infinitus as the first portfolio providing building blocks for any data center architecture, whether DC-native or hybrid AC/DC, capable of powering next-generation AI chips efficiently.

Applications Beyond Data Centers

While the data center market is the primary focus of the Infinitus launch, ABB said it expects the same DC architecture transition to occur across other energy-intensive industries. The company specifically identified large-scale manufacturing, industrial buildings, renewables, and marine operations as sectors where Infinitus technology could drive comparable energy efficiency gains.

Frisio noted ABB's history with DC technology as a foundation for this broader ambition, describing the company's more than 25 years of work across multiple segments as preparation for the current moment. ABB holds over 700 patents in areas directly relevant to the Infinitus portfolio, spanning renewable energy systems, power generation, energy storage, and drive systems, providing a technology base the company says is unmatched among major electrification suppliers.

ABB employs around 110,000 people worldwide and lists its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm. The company has more than 140 years of operating history and positions itself as a global leader in electrification and automation.

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