Vertiv’s 800 VDC Power Platform For AI Factories: Explained

Vertiv and Nvidia have advanced their joint efforts to develop an 800 VDC power platform, an infrastructure designed to manage the requirements of next-generation AI factories and high-performance data centres.

Following a strategic alignment announced in May 2025, Vertiv has accelerated its development from conceptual design to a mature engineering phase.

The new 800 VDC power portfolio is scheduled for release in the second half of 2026, aligning with the planned rollout of Nvidia’s Rubin Ultra platforms in 2027.

This collaboration addresses the escalating power and performance needs caused by the rapid growth of AI workloads.

Meeting AI’s power and performance demands

The data centre industry is approaching a critical juncture as traditional 54 VDC in-rack power distribution systems are proving insufficient for the megawatt-scale demands of AI.

These legacy systems were originally designed for kilowatt-scale racks and cannot support the synchronous high-performance computing environments that AI factories require.

In response, Vertiv and Nvidia are creating scalable 800 VDC systems that integrate energy storage and provide a foundation optimised for these advanced computing environments.

Vertiv is currently finalising the specifications for a comprehensive 800 VDC platform. This includes centralised rectifiers, high-efficiency DC busways and rack-level DC-DC converters engineered to deliver the necessary megawatt-scale capacity.

Scott Armul, Executive Vice President of Global Portfolio and Business Units at Vertiv, explains how the scale of AI is changing data centre fundamentals.

“Larger AI workloads are reshaping every aspect of data centre design,” Scott says.

He adds: “Our systems-level expertise in both AC and DC-based power data centre architectures positions us uniquely to address the exceptional power demands of AI workloads.

“With the development of our Vertiv 800 VDC platform designs, we're translating our extensive experience into next-generation solutions that will support the massive compute densities required for AI factories.”

Redefining power infrastructure for AI

As AI infrastructure continues to grow in both size and energy intensity, the focus for Vertiv and Nvidia is on creating a scalable and efficient power distribution model.

This approach is intended to reduce conversion losses and improve overall system-wide performance.

Dion Harris, Senior Director of HPC, Cloud and AI Infrastructure at Nvidia, says this collaboration represents a shift in how data centre power is conceptualised.

“Powering the next generation of megawatt-scale AI factories requires a fundamental shift in power architectures,” Dion says.

He adds: “Nvidia and Vertiv are working closely together to develop the scalable and efficient power foundation needed to unlock the full potential of next-generation AI infrastructure.”

Vertiv’s 800 VDC platform leverages the company's extensive experience in DC power systems, which were originally developed for the telecom and industrial sectors.

This legacy now serves as the basis for a new generation of solutions aimed at hyperscale and AI-focused data centres where efficiency, density and reliability are crucial.

From architectural design to service readiness

Vertiv is already applying its 800 VDC reference architecture in the early design stages of several large-scale AI factory projects.

These designs are being tested against real-world gigawatt-scale requirements to demonstrate the scalability and resilience of the platform.

The 800 VDC ecosystem developed by Vertiv could allow operators to manage higher power densities across data hall environments, which in turn enables faster deployment of AI workloads and a reduction in operational bottlenecks.

This platform-level maturity extends to Vertiv’s service model, ensuring that future AI data centres can be deployed and maintained safely at scale.

Vertiv’s global network of over 4,000 field engineers will be central to supporting this next phase of data centre evolution, providing customers with confidence in managing high-voltage DC environments. Scott says Vertiv’s approach ensures interoperability across the entire infrastructure stack.

“We are engineering a holistic, scalable system where infrastructure parts interoperate as one – demonstrating Vertiv’s role as a systems-level partner, moving from vision to readiness and enabling the infrastructure necessary to power future-ready AI factories,” he explains.

This positions both companies to address the pressing challenges of power density and efficiency in an era defined by AI.