Equinix Inc. has opened five centers where businesses can test liquid-cooled artificial intelligence (AI) hardware inside working data centers before committing to larger deployments.
The Equinix Enhanced Performance Innovation Centers (EPIC) are operating in Frankfurt, London, Osaka, Paris, and Sydney. Businesses can test how cooling, power, and networking systems work together under real operating conditions. More locations are expected to open in 2027.
“Liquid cooling is an essential component of modern enterprise infrastructure and a hard requirement for customers deploying AI,” said Brian Stein, senior vice president, Infrastructure Products and Services at Equinix. “EPIC provides businesses with a place to test, validate and build with confidence before they commit to large-scale deployments. We’re putting our global infrastructure footprint and unmatched ecosystem to work to accelerate the path from concept to production for our customers.”
As businesses move AI projects beyond trials, they need infrastructure that can handle more demanding workloads. More powerful graphics processing units (GPUs), which process AI tasks, are increasing power and cooling needs as more computing capacity is packed into each equipment rack.
Equinix said businesses may lack the expertise to coordinate cooling, power, networking, and facility operations. Problems in any of these areas can delay deployment.
At EPIC locations, enterprise teams can work with Equinix experts and technology partners to test liquid-cooled GPU and central processing unit (CPU) platforms. They can run workloads for training AI models and using those models to produce results, a process known as inference.
These tests allow teams to identify equipment and operating issues before expanding their systems. Businesses can also compare liquid cooling technologies, assess how equipment from different suppliers works together, and gain hands-on experience before deployment.
EPIC expands Equinix’s existing testing facilities. Its first Co-Innovation Facility, announced in 2022, allowed partners to test technologies before they entered Equinix data centers. In 2024, the company introduced Solution Validation Centers to help customers test deployments across multiple locations.